Social inequalities associated with case fatality rate due to COVID-19 in Fortaleza, Ceará State,  Brazil, 2020

Carlos  Sanhueza-Sanzana; Italo Wesley Oliveira  Aguiar; Rosa Lívia Freitas  Almeida; Carl  Kendall; Aminata  Mendes; Ligia Regina Franco Sansigolo  Kerr

doi:10.1590/s1679-4974202100022

##article.authors##

Carlos Sanhueza-Sanzana Universidade Federal do Ceará https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6021-564X
Italo Wesley Oliveira Aguiar Universidade Federal do Ceará https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7743-3109
Rosa Lívia Freitas Almeida Universidade de Fortaleza https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6423-543X
Carl Kendall Universidade Federal do Ceará https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0794-4333
Aminata Mendes Universidade Federal do Ceará
Ligia Regina Franco Sansigolo Kerr Universidade Federal do Ceará https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4941-408X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1679-4974202100022

Keywords:

SARS-CoV-2, Socioeconomic Factors, Iniqualities

Abstract

Objetivo: Analisar a associação entre as desigualdades sociais e sanitárias, condições socioeconômicas, segregação espacial e letalidade por COVID-19 em Fortaleza, Ceará, Brasil. Métodos: Estudo ecológico de casos confirmados e óbitos por COVID-19, tendo como unidades de análise os 119 bairros de Fortaleza.

Objective: To analyze the association between social inequalities and sanitation, socioeconomic conditions, spatial segregation and case-fatality rate (CFR) due to COVID-19 in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Methods: Ecological study of confirmed cases and deaths due to COVID-19, in 119 neighborhoods in Fortaleza as units of analysis. We calculated the indicators of incidence, mortality and apparent CFR of COVID-19, between January 1 to June 8, 2020. The socioeconomic indicators were extracted from the Demographic Census of Brazil, 2010. Spatial analysis was performed and Moran´s Global and Local index were calculated. Results: We found 22,830 confirmed cases, 2,333 deaths and an apparent lethality of 12.7 (95%CI 11.6;13.9). We observed significant spatial autocorrelations for apparent CFR (I=0.35) and extreme poverty (I=0.51) that overlap in several neighborhoods in the city. Conclusion: Apparent CFR due to COVID-19 is associated with worse socioeconomic and sanitary conditions, demonstrating the relationship between social inequalities and health outcomes in times of pandemic.