This investigation was a cross-sectional observational study conducted in primary health care units. Household surveys were conducted and information was obtained from approximately individuals, including but not limited to data related to education, family income, health issues, access to public services and access to health services. The speech-language and hearing complaints were identified from specific questions.. Our results revealed that the populations participating in the survey were heterogeneous in terms of their demographic and economic characteristics.
The results demonstrate the importance of using population surveys to identify speech-language and hearing complaints at the level of primary health care.
Studies have shown that it is important that clinicians, researchers, and administrators in health care know the prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for a particular disease in the community in order to allocate sufficient resources to manage the problems associated with that disease and to promote actions with a major impact on population health.
Epidemiology can help speech-language pathologists identify the risks for the occurrence of communication disorders in a given population, as well as the need for professional education and for changes in health services 1 , 2. One of the most widely used instruments for the formulation and evaluation of public policies is population surveys 3 , 4. This type of survey makes it possible to determine the health profile and the distribution of risk factors in a population 3 and to correlate injuries and health problems with socio-environmental conditions and even with perceived health status, thereby enabling the identification of health inequalities related to disease occurrence and to risk exposure.
Individuals with less severe or mildly symptomatic health problems, as well as groups with limited access to health services, can also be identified through health surveys 3 , Epidemiologic survey studies often use self-reported data to assess the presence of diseases and disorders 8.
