COVID-19 infection and hospitalization according to the burden of chronic noncommunicable diseases in Brazil

Ferraz, F. R.; Venancio, I.; Lopes, L. N.; Azeredo, C.; Conde, w.

Chronic diseases, worse socioeconomic conditions and old age can increase infection and hospitalization rate due to Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We assessed the association between the burden of NCDs and the occurrence of infections and hospitalizations of COVID-19 in Brazil in a large COVID-19 national survey data. We analyzed only data collected between July and November 2020 (n = 1,071,782). The frequencies of positive COVID-19 diagnosis and NCD burden were estimated according to age, sex, socioeconomic strata and skin color categories. We estimated hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals using Cox regression models. There is a non-linear dose-response inverse association between per capita income and the rates of infection and hospitalization due to COVID-19. The presence of NCDs was associated with a higher incidence of COVID-19 infection (HR1NCD = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.26; 1.43; HR2 or more NCD= 1.54 95% CI: 1.39; 1.71) and incidence of hospitalization (HR1NCD = 3.08 95% CI: 2.26; 4.19; HR 2or more NCD= 6.81 95% CI: 4.88; 9.49).The difference between the risks of infection or hospitalization of COVID-19 attributable to the burden of NCDs is non-linearly associated with the income.