COVID-19 hospitalizations in Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS).

• Main Authors: Carla Lourenço Tavares de Andrade, Claudia Cristina de Aguiar Pereira, Mônica Martins, Sheyla Maria Lemos Lima, Margareth Crisóstomo Portela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243126

<h4>Objective</h4>To study the profile of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the Unified Health System (SUS) in Brazil and to identify factors associated with in-hospital mortality related to the disease.<h4>Methods</h4>Cross-sectional study, based on secondary data on COVID-19 hospitalizations that occurred in the SUS between late February through June. Patients aged 18 years or older with primary or secondary diagnoses indicative of COVID-19 were included. Bivariate analyses were performed and generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) were estimated with random effects intercept. The modeling followed three steps, including: attributes of the patients; elements of the care process; and characteristics of the hospital and place of hospitalization.<h4>Results</h4>89,405 hospitalizations were observed, of which 24.4% resulted in death. COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the SUS were predominantly male (56.5%) with a mean age of 58.9 years. The length of stay ranged from less than 24 hours to 114 days, with a mean of 6.9 (±6.5) days. Of the total number of hospitalizations, 22.6% reported ICU use. The odds on in-hospital death were 16.8% higher among men than among women and increased with age. Black individuals had a higher likelihood of death. The behavior of the Charlson and Elixhauser indices was consistent with the hypothesis of a higher risk of death among patients with comorbidities, and obesity had an independent effect on increasing this risk. Some states, such as Amazonas and Rio de Janeiro, had a higher risk of in-hospital death from COVID-19. The odds on in-hospital death were 72.1% higher in municipalities with at least 100,000 inhabitants, though being hospitalized in the municipality of residence was a protective factor.<h4>Conclusion</h4>There was broad variation in COVID-19 in-hospital mortality in the SUS, associated with demographic and clinical factors, social inequality, and differences in the structure of services and quality of health care.