Mortality rate trend of meningitis by region of Brazil, between the year 2010 to 2019

Abstract

Background: Meningitis is an inflammatory process in the membranes that line the central nervous system (CNS). Objectives: To analyze the behavior of meningitis mortality rate by region of Brazil, between 2010 and 2019. Desing and setting: Analytical, observational and retrospective study. Deaths number from meningitis was recorded through the Mortality Information System (SIM) stratified by Brazilian region, and population data from IBGE. Methods: Mortality rate (MR) per 1 million inhabitants was calculated. MR trend in each region was provided by segmented linear regression. MR annual percentage changes (APCs) were adjusted with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: In this period, there were 10007 deaths from meningitis in Brazil. MR by region varied from 3.77 (North Region) to 6.03 (Southeast Region), while in Brazil it was 4.93. A decreasing trend is noticeable in Brazil MR (APC= -3.2; 95%CI= -3.9; -2.4). Central-West region had the largest drop (APC= - 4.1; 95%CI= - 7.9; -0.2), followed by Southeast. In contrast, South and North regions had stationary trend and Northeast had a double behavior: decreasing from 2010 to 2015 (APC= -7.7; 95%CI= -11.7; -3.5) and stationary from 2015 to 2019. Conclusions: Despite the country decreasing trend, these results are heterogeneous. Variables such as vaccination coverage, population adherence and socioeconomic status can influence meningitis MR trends. Thus, it is understood the need for programs aimed at disease treatment and prevention to reduce regional inequalities and meningitis mortality.