Evaluation of epidemiologic risk and Tuberculosis Control Program performance by health regions, State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, 2003-2010

Objective: to evaluate epidemiologic risk and Tuberculosis Control Program performance by Health Region in Santa Catarina State, Brazil, 2003-2010. Methods: this was an ecological study using state epidemiologic surveillance data comprising 4 risk indicators and 11 Tuberculosis Program performance indicators; we calculated the median for each indicator by region and gave scores according to percentile ranking. A severity index was thus created. Results: different levels of morbi-mortality risk and distinct Tuberculosis control performance indexes were found in the regions; the severity index created allowed us to identify six regions with high severity, nine intermediate and six with low severity, although there were differences in risk and performance scores (p<0.001). Conclusion: a great variety was found in the distribution of pockets of disease severity in the different regions, as was diversity in health management efforts to overcome them.