COVID-19 IN HEALTH WORKERS: AN ECOLOGICAL STUDY FROM SINAN DATA, 2020-2021

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the epidemiological and occupational profile of health workers notified for COVID-19 in Brazil, in the years 2020 and 2021. Method: this is an ecological study, which used data from the Information System of Notifiable Diseases (SINAN) and the Annual Social Information List (RAIS), from the years 2020 and 2021. Sociodemographic and occupational variables were analyzed. The prevalence rates of COVID-19 in health workers were calculated, modeled by Poisson regression in the Stata 14 software. Results: in 2020 and 2021, 35,545 health workers were affected by COVID-19. A higher prevalence of the disease was observed in females (79.0%), between 30 and 49 years (65.5%) and in blacks and browns (41.4%). Higher rates were observed in women (793.9/100,000 in 2020), young workers (839.9/100,000 in 2020), non-whites (1,497.4/100,000 in 2020) and in northern Brazil, with 1,688.1 cases per 100,000 workers in 2020. Nursing professionals, physicians and physical therapists had the highest rates of the disease in 2020 and 2021. Conclusion: there was a difference between the sexes, as well as social, racial and occupational inequities that reflect the need to expand health surveillance measures in order to ensure greater prevention, protection and assistance to health workers.