Autor(es)

Russo, Giuliano ; Cassenote, Alex ; De Oliveira, Bruno Luciano Carneiro Alves ; Scheffer, Mario

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH; v. 2, n. 10, p. 15-pg., 2022-10-14.

Resumo

Health workers (HWs) are a key resource for health systems worldwide, and have been affected heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence is consolidating on incidence and drivers of infections, predominantly in high-income settings. It is however unclear what the risk factors may be for specific health professions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a representative sample of 1,183 medical doctors registered with Brazil's Federal Council of Medicine in one developed (S & atilde;o Paulo) and one disadvantaged state (Maranh & atilde;o). Between February-June 2021, we administered a telephone questionnaire to collect data on physicians' demographics, deployment to services, vaccination status, and self-reported COVID-19 infections. We performed descriptive, univariate, and multilevel clustered analysis to explore the association between physicians' infection rates, and their sociodemographic and employment characteristics. A generalized linear mixed model with a binomial distribution was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio. We found that 35.8% of physicians in our sample declared having been infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus during the first year of the pandemic. The infection rate in Maranh & atilde;o (49.2%) [95% CI 45.0-53.4] was almost twice that in S & atilde;o Paulo (24.1%) [95% CI 20.8-27.5]. Being a physician in Maranh & atilde;o [95% CI 2.08-3.57], younger than 50 years [95% CI 1.41-2.89] and having worked in a COVID-19 ward [95% CI 1.28-2.27], were positively associated with the probability of infection. Conversely, working with diagnostic services [95% CI 0.53-0.96], in administrative functions [95% CI 0.42-0.80], or in teaching and research [95% CI 0.48-0.91] were negatively associated. Based on our data from Brazil, COVID-19 infections in LMICs may be more likely in health systems with lower physician-to-patient ratios, and younger doctors working in COVID-19 wards may be infected more frequently. Such findings may be used to identify policies to mitigate COVID-19 effects on HWs in LMICs. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 17/50356-7 - Qual o impacto da atual crise econômica no sistema de saúde brasileiro? O que fazer para garantir força de trabalho e provisionamento de serviços de saúde SP e Maranhão
• Beneficiário: Mário César Scheffer
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Pesquisa em Políticas Públicas