Distribution of COVID-19 cases and health resources in Brazil’s Amazon region: a spatial analysis

Abstract

Spatial analysis can help measure the spatial accessibility of health services with a view to improving the allocation of health care resources. The objective of this study was to analyze the spatial distribution of COVID-19 detection rates and health care resources in Brazil’s Amazon region. We conducted an ecological study using data on COVID-19 cases and the availability of health care resources in 772 municipalities during two waves of the pandemic. Local and global Bayesian estimation were used to construct choropleth maps. Moran’s I was calculated to detect the presence of spatial dependence and Moran maps were used to identify disease clusters. In both periods, Moran’s I values indicate the presence of positive spatial autocorrelation in distributions and spatial dependence between municipalities, with only a slight difference between the two estimators. The findings also reveal that case rates were highest in the states of Amapá, Amazonas, and Roraima. The data suggest that health care resources were inefficiently allocated, with higher concentrations of ventilators and ICU beds being found in state capitals.

Implicações espaciais da pandemia de covid-19 na Amazônia Legal

“…Apesar de não apresentar uma densidade demográfica tão alta quanto outras regiões do Brasil, a Amazônia Legal foi marcada por uma alta infestação de casos de COVID-19. Essa situação pode ser atribuída a diversos fatores, incluindo a falta de coordenação de ações entre as esferas do governo federal e estadual, bem como a disparidade de indicadores sociais, econômicos e sanitários (Rezende et al, 2023). A região é caracterizada por desigualdades socioeconômicas e sanitárias significativas, com muitas áreas remotas e de difícil acesso, o que pode ter contribuído para a disseminação da doença.…”

“…Por conta dos avanços na área da saúde foi possível a redução drástica no número de casos, sobretudo devido à vacinação em massa da população (Rezende et al, 2023). Apesar disso, no ano de 2023 contava-se com o registro de 764,474,387 casos acumulados e 6,915,286 óbitos.…”

Evaluating China's primary healthcare services' efficiency and spatial correlation: a three-stage DEA-Malmquist model

“…This is done to address the limitations of traditional evaluation methods, which do not consider spatial location information. A study conducted on the allocation of health resources in the Brazilian Amazon revealed the presence of a positive spatial autocorrelation in their distribution ( 45 ). Shi et al conducted a study to assess the spatial distribution of top-tier hospitals in China ( 46 ).…”