Accessibility to preventive services in health of young monterians

Accesibilidad a servicios preventivos en salud de jóvenes monterianos

Objective. To Describe the geographic, economic, cultural and organizational characteristics related to accessibility and the effective access to preventive health services in 10-19 year-old school population in the city of Montería. Materials and methods. Descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study.  A sample of secondary, urban and rural educational schools was taken. 1.993 students were selected as a non-probabilistic sample to be applied a structured survey within five fundamental accessibility conditions: 1. Geographic, 2. Economic, 3 Cultural, 4. Administrative and 5. Effective access to health services. The information was consolidated and processed using the SPSS 22 software and presented in tables and graphs. Results. From 1993 young people 45.3% are men and 54.7% women, the average age was 15 years. 54.7% live in urban areas, 55% live near a health care center. More than 50% need to be accompanied to medical appointments and only 50% occasionally attend health services when they get sick, traditional medicine is not very requested. Conclusion. The main conclusion indicates that, among young people, little information about the functioning of the health care system was detected, which it is a barrier to make people use of services and access to promotion and prevention programs. The economic level of families is low, becoming transportation cost to medical consultations in a key factor to avoid it.