Compara？？o dos utentes do antigo Hospital do Desterro com os utentes do Hospital de S. José no acesso à consulta de Medicina Interna - Parte I: objectivos, popula？？o, métodos e resultados sobre potencial de acesso

context: following the hospital do desterro (hd) closure, the main focus of this study is on the outpatient department of internal medicine (mi) and on its integration in the hospital de s？o josé (hsj). purpose: the general purpose of this paper published in two parts is, in this first part, to compare the potential of access to the hsj outpatient department of internal medicine former users of hd outpatient department of internal medicine (in the three months prior to the transfer of the department) with those who were already users of hsj outpatient department before the integration of departments. population and methods: this is an epidemiological, cross-sectional analytical study, where selection was made through random sampling proportionally stratified for the two study groups, according to gender and age of the population previously analyzed, with a final size of 256 elements for each group. data was collected for the two groups by administering a structured questionnaire by telephone, proceeded by a registered letter explaining the contours of the study. data analysis compared the two groups using the chi-square test for homogeneity and independence and one-way anova. main findings: there are significant differences in potential access between groups i (hd) and ii (hsj) particularly with regard: to age, group i (hd) is older than group ii (hsj); marital status, group i (hd) has a higher proportion of widowers than group ii (hsj); the work situation, with larger numbers of active people in group ii (hsj); the number of children living in the respondent's household, greater in group i (hd); schooling, group ii (hsj) has higher academic qualifications than group i (hd); the expectations before the last visit, lower in group i (hd); the perception of physical accessibility to hsj, perceived as more difficult by group i (hd) than by group ii (hsj) and distance and travel time from home to hsj, lower for group i (hd). conclusion: these differences in potential of