Patients of a “street medicine” clinics in Brazil, “World’s Doctors”

Abstract

“Street medicine” offers a complementary approach for marginalized population’s challenges, usually out of reach by the tradition health system. Our purpose is to describe the sociodemographic profile and the health-related challenges of patients served by a “street medicine” NGO. We analyzed retrospectively the patient cohort (2,226 patients) attending the “World’s Doctors” street-based mobile health clinics established in São Paulo from 1/2019 to 9/2022. Our results were compared with data publicly available of general Brazilian population. We observed more males (66.4%), black (22%), brown (38.8%) and indigenous (3.2%), with a higher mean age (45.7 years) compared to the general population (32.6 years), with low access to drinkable water. Higher prevalence of tuberculosis (2.2%) and STDs (4.5%) were observed, as well as alcohol and drug use disorders. The most common complaints to seek our service were: pain (36%), cough (7.78%), cutaneous lesions (6.11%), weakness (4.81%), and dizziness (4.03%). Patients served by our NGO present health conditions that go beyond main complains. Street based medicine complements traditional healthcare and would benefit from a multidisciplinary approach that involves dealing with social determinants of health and active surveillance and treatment of tuberculosis, STD, and alcohol and drug use disorders.