Overview of hospitalizations for covid-19 among aged individuals residing in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Objective To characterize hospitalizations for covid-19 among aged individuals residing in Minas Gerais, Brazil, from March 2020 to March 2022, with a focus on geographical distribution, sociodemographic, clinical, epidemiological, and care data. Method This quantitative and descriptive study used sociodemographic, clinical, epidemiological, and care data from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Database, including covid-19-related data. A total of 102,029 hospitalizations of aged individuals for covid-19 were analyzed for descriptive purposes and mapping the incidence by municipality and macro-region. Results High incidence was observed in 196 of the 853 municipalities in Minas Gerais, ranging from 3,098 to 8,916 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Hospitalizations were predominantly male (50.7%), aged 60-70 years (39.0%), of mixed race (41.6%), with 1st to 5th grade education (17.6%), and presenting risk factors or comorbidities (54.0%). Common symptoms included dyspnea and oxygen saturation below 95% (72.8% each). Regarding care data, a portion of patients required intensive care unit admission (34.0%), non-invasive ventilatory support (54.1%), and presented interstitial infiltrates in chest X-rays (20.4%). Although most cases resulted in recovery (55.6%), it is noteworthy that 41.8% of hospitalized aged individuals died. Conclusion This study highlights the existence of areas in Minas Gerais with a higher incidence of covid-19 cases that require ongoing monitoring, with a focus on the care of subgroups of aged individuals who are male, younger, of mixed race, have lower educational attainment, and have risk factors or comorbidities. Additionally, special attention is needed for aged individuals with signs and symptoms indicative of clinical severity.