Age-standardized COVID-19 mortality in the capitals of different regions of Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Azevedo e Silva, Gulnar
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Jardim, Beatriz, Lotufo, Paulo
• Tipo de documento: preprint
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: SciELO Preprints
• Texto Completo: https://preprints.scielo.org/index.php/scielo/preprint/view/1874
• topic: COVID-19; taxa de mortalidade; mortalidade por faixa etária; Brasil; Desigualdades em saúde; COVID-19; mortality rate; age specific death rate; Brazil; health inequalities

The marked increase in cases and deaths by Covid-19 has led to a significant overload on the health system in Brazil, especially in the cities of Manaus and Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. The description of the pandemic's impact has been based on absolute numbers or crude mortality rates without considering the pattern of distribution of age groups in different regions of the country. This study aims to compare the crude mortality rates for Covid-19 with standardized rates for age in the Brazilian states' capitals and in the Federal District. Information on death was accessed in the Influenza Surveillance Information System (SIVEP-Gripe), and the population denominators were based on the estimates available by the Ministry of Health. The age structure of Brazil's estimated population for 2020 was used as standard to calculate the age-standardized rates. The results show that the highest crude rates were observed in Manaus (253.6/100,000) and Rio de Janeiro (253.2/100,000). After age-standardization, there was a significant increase in rates in the North region. The highest adjusted rate was seen in Manaus (412.5/100,000), where 33% of deaths by Covid-19 occurred among individuals under 60. The mortality over 70 years old doubled if compared to Rio de Janeiro and tripled if compared to Sao Paulo. The use of age-standardized mortality rates eliminates interpretive biases, exposing the even greater weight of Covid-19 in the northern region of country.