Salary of physicians hired by the Family Health Strategy Program and the municipalities’ context: an ecological study

Abstract

Salary is an important factor of attraction, fixation and satisfaction of physicians in Primary Health Care (PHC), especially in the most remote and/or needy regions. This study aims to identify municipal contextual characteristics that are associated with the amount of salary paid to physicians hired from the Family Health Strategy (FHS). An ecological and cross-sectional study was conducted with 78 municipalities of the Northern Health Macroregion, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The dependent variable referred to the amount paid to the physicians hired from the FHS. Twenty-two contextual independent variables were considered considering sociodemographic characteristics, location and health/care indicators of each municipality, collected from official databases. Multiple Linear Regression was conducted. The average salary was R$11,188.61 (±2,093.71), ranging from R$6,388.20 to R$17,000.00. After adjusting the model, only the ‘Distance from Regional Center’ remained positively associated with the outcome (R²=6.4%). Physicians' salaries were not determined by measurable contextual municipal characteristics. Other more subjective factors, difficult to measure, may be involved in the issue. There is a need to establish clear parameters to define the salary value of doctors hired to work in the FHS.