Covid-19 impacts: Ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in Brazil

Brazil is a continental country with significant socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities. It is important to understand how these differences are reflected in health care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the potential impacts of the reduced number Transcranial Doppler Ultrasou...

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Main Authors: Rui Leandro Santos, Waldecy Rodrigues, David Prata, Daniela Mascarenhas de Queiroz Trevisan, Paulo Henrique de Souza Bermejo, Marina Figueiredo Moreira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-11-01
Series:Heliyon
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023091685
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author Rui Leandro Santos
Waldecy Rodrigues
David Prata
Daniela Mascarenhas de Queiroz Trevisan
Paulo Henrique de Souza Bermejo
Marina Figueiredo Moreira
author_facet Rui Leandro Santos
Waldecy Rodrigues
David Prata
Daniela Mascarenhas de Queiroz Trevisan
Paulo Henrique de Souza Bermejo
Marina Figueiredo Moreira
author_sort Rui Leandro Santos
collection DOAJ
description Brazil is a continental country with significant socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities. It is important to understand how these differences are reflected in health care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the potential impacts of the reduced number Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (TCD) tests performed in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its reflections according to region and race/color for patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). This study performed data queries from the Brazilian Ministry of Health, literature research, and quantitative analysis using descriptive statistical analysis. We found evidence for a decrease in the number of TCD tests performed during the pandemic (−83 %) relative to the same non-pandemic period, and disparities in tests given in five regions in Brazil. Our data show, that in absolute numbers, most people with SCD are brown, but the highest prevalence of cases was among blacks. We also found evidence for racial discrimination when performing TCD test, which leads us to believe that the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) may be susceptible to racism when treating this disease. The implications of these findings serve as a warning to other countries with high indices of mixed ancestry in formulating health care policies for patients with SCD.
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spelling doaj.art-9582ba6c278241279098cfbb7fcc94c12023-12-02T07:04:46ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-11-01911e21960Covid-19 impacts: Ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in BrazilRui Leandro Santos0Waldecy Rodrigues1David Prata2Daniela Mascarenhas de Queiroz Trevisan3Paulo Henrique de Souza Bermejo4Marina Figueiredo Moreira5Program of Computational Modelling, Federal University of Tocantins. Palmas, TO, Brazil; Corresponding author.Program of Computational Modelling, Federal University of Tocantins. Palmas, TO, BrazilProgram of Computational Modelling, Federal University of Tocantins. Palmas, TO, BrazilProgram of Computational Modelling, Federal University of Tocantins. Palmas, TO, BrazilSchool of Economics, Business Administration, Accounting and Information Science, University of Brasilia, BrazilSchool of Economics, Business Administration, Accounting and Information Science, University of Brasilia, BrazilBrazil is a continental country with significant socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities. It is important to understand how these differences are reflected in health care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the potential impacts of the reduced number Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound (TCD) tests performed in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its reflections according to region and race/color for patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). This study performed data queries from the Brazilian Ministry of Health, literature research, and quantitative analysis using descriptive statistical analysis. We found evidence for a decrease in the number of TCD tests performed during the pandemic (−83 %) relative to the same non-pandemic period, and disparities in tests given in five regions in Brazil. Our data show, that in absolute numbers, most people with SCD are brown, but the highest prevalence of cases was among blacks. We also found evidence for racial discrimination when performing TCD test, which leads us to believe that the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) may be susceptible to racism when treating this disease. The implications of these findings serve as a warning to other countries with high indices of mixed ancestry in formulating health care policies for patients with SCD.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023091685Sickle cell diseaseCOVID-19RacismTranscranial Doppler
spellingShingle Rui Leandro Santos
Waldecy Rodrigues
David Prata
Daniela Mascarenhas de Queiroz Trevisan
Paulo Henrique de Souza Bermejo
Marina Figueiredo Moreira
Covid-19 impacts: Ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in Brazil
Heliyon
Sickle cell disease
COVID-19
Racism
Transcranial Doppler
title Covid-19 impacts: Ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in Brazil
title_full Covid-19 impacts: Ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in Brazil
title_fullStr Covid-19 impacts: Ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in Brazil
title_full_unstemmed Covid-19 impacts: Ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in Brazil
title_short Covid-19 impacts: Ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in Brazil
title_sort covid 19 impacts ethnic and regional inequalities in sickle cell disease patient care in brazil
topic Sickle cell disease
COVID-19
Racism
Transcranial Doppler
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023091685
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