Hospitalizations for oral and oropharyngeal cancer in Brazil by the SUS: impacts of the covid-19 pandemic

Author(s)

Amanda Ramos da Cunha ^[1] ; Sofia Rafaela Maito Velasco ^[2] ; Fernando Neves Hugo ^[3] ; José Leopoldo Ferreira Antunes ^[4]

Affiliation

^[1] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. Departamento de Epidemiologia - Brasil

^[2] Centro de Estudos, Pesquisa e Prática em APS e Redes. Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein - Brasil

^[3] Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Faculdade de Odontologia. Departamento de Odontologia Preventiva e Social - Brasil

^[4] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. Departamento de Epidemiologia - Brasil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Revista de Saúde Pública; v. 57, 2023-05-26.

Abstract

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the impact of the different phases of the covid-19 pandemic on hospitalizations for oral (CaB) and oropharyngeal (CaOR) cancer in Brazil, carried out within the scope of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). METHODS We obtained data regarding hospital admissions due to CaB and CaOR between January 2018 and August 2021 from the SUS Hospital Information System, analyzing hospital admissions as rates per 100,000 inhabitants. We divided the pandemic (January 2020 to August 2021) and pre-pandemic (January 2018 to December 2019) periods into four-month periods, comparing the pandemic period rates with analogous rates for the pre-pandemic period – for Brazil, by macro-region and by a group of procedures performed during hospitalization. We also analyzed the impact of the pandemic on the average cost of hospitalizations, expressing the results in percentage change. RESULTS Rates of hospitalization in the SUS due to CaB and CaOR decreased during the pandemic in Brazil. The most significant reduction occurred in the second four-month period of 2020 (18.42%), followed by decreases in the third four-month period of 2020 (17.76%) and the first and second four-month periods of 2021 (respectively, 14.64% and 17.07%), compared with 2019. The South and Southeast showed the most expressive and constant reductions between the different phases of the pandemic. Hospitalizations for clinical procedures suffered a more significant decrease than for surgical procedures. In Brazil, the average expenditure per hospitalization in the four-month pandemic periods was higher than in the reference periods. CONCLUSION After more than a year of the pandemic’s beginning in Brazil, the SUS hospital care network for CaB and CaOR had yet to be re-established. The repressed demand for hospitalizations for these diseases, which have fast evolution, will possibly result in delays in treatment, negatively impacting the survival of these patients. Future studies are needed to monitor this situation. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 21/07433-6 - Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer mortality and hospital care in the 133 intermediate geographic regions of Brazil and its relationship with socioeconomic conditions and provision of hospital structure
• Grantee: Amanda Ramos da Cunha
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral