(108) Health Determinants and The Number of Deaths Caused by COVID-19 in Brazil Regions - An Ecological Analysis at The Initial Period of The Pandemic

Friday, August 26, 2022

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM CEST

Location: Hall C

Publication Number: 439

Presenting Author(s)

Raissa Carolina Fonseca Candido, BPharm
– MSc. , Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Co-Author(s)

Alícia Amanda M. Costa
– Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil
Higor José Souza
– Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Paula Drummond
– Industrial pharmacist, MSc, PhD candidate, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Jéssica Malta
– Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Cristiane Aparecida A. Menezes de Pádua
– Professor, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Background: Brazil ranks second in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths worldwide. The social inequalities in the country result in uneven health resources distribution among the 27 federative units (FU).

Objectives: To analyze differences in the number of deaths caused by Covid-19, Influenza, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and health determinants among FU.

Methods: In this ecological analysis, we compared the difference between the number of deaths caused by COVID-19, Influenza, and SARS between the 1st and 17th epidemiological weeks in 2020 and selected economic and health determinants: human development Index (HDI), number of physicians with active professional registration, number of respirators and beds in Intensive Care Units (ICU) among Brazilian regions. We obtained data from public electronic databases and performed descriptive analysis by calculating absolute and relative frequencies, measures of central tendency and negative binomial regression test for univariate analysis.

Results: The incidence of deaths in UF with a higher Human Development Index (HDI) was approximately 50% lower compared to those with HDI≤0.69 (IRR = 0.46; 95% CI = 0.23-0.95). We also found a difference in the average of deaths by COVID-19 between FU, being differences in the number of deaths were observed for the central-west region (p < 0.02) and south compared to the southeast region (p=0.07). A greater number of ICU beds and doctors was associated with a lower number of deaths, with a borderline level of significance.

Conclusions: We found significant differences in the average of deaths by Covid-19 in Brazilian FU. The difference found between the number of deaths in FU might have been influenced by the health determinants, but the availability of resources alone is not able to predict mortality due to COVID-19. Although, differences in the HDI seem to contribute to higher mortality.