Thayanne Mendes de Andrade et al. Mariara Lopes da Costa Marques Julia Pereira Cavalcante Marques Maria Eduarda Miranda de Souza … Gláucia Maria Moraes de Oliveira Thais Rocha Salim
Abstract
Background
Between 2020 and 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic had a direct impact on population health. In Brazil, there is a lack of studies on the correlation between mortality from diseases of the circulatory system (DCS) and cardiorespiratory arrest (CRA) among people younger than 20 years during this period.
Objective
To analyze, using DCS and CRA, the mortality rates (MRs) due to underlying causes of death among people younger than 20 years in Brazil from 2019 to 2022 to understand the impact of the pandemic.
Methods
Ecological time-series study conducted between 2019 and 2022, focusing on deaths among people younger than 20 years. The analysis included the MRs and proportional mortality (PM) by cause of death, with data obtained from the DATASUS. Stata and Excel were used for statistical analysis.
Results
Between 2019 and 2022, there were 243,358 deaths among people younger than 20 years, with an MR of 101.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, which was higher among children younger than 1 year. The main causes of death were perinatal, external, and congenital malformations. There was a 9% reduction in MR between 2019 and 2020, followed by a 4.08% increase between 2021 and 2022, along with a 10% decrease in the number of live births. The highest MRs were in the North and Northeast regions. The MRs by DCS decreased between 2019 and 2021 but increased in 2022. Reporting of CRA as the cause of death was infrequent.
Conclusion
There was a reduction in MRs due to all causes and an increase in DCS in people older than 15 years during the pandemic, with disparities in lower-income regions.
