Research by the Faculty of Medicine of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) found underreporting in the number of deaths caused by covid-19 in the period from February to June 2020, in the cities of Belo Horizonte, Salvador and Natal.
Based on the results of the survey, the researchers estimated that the number of deaths from the disease in Brazil in 2020 is underestimated by at least 18%. The study was published in the journal Plos Global Public Healthon the 5th of May.
In the survey, coordinated by the Research Group on Epidemiology and Health Assessment (GPEAS), linked to the Postgraduate Program in Public Health at the UFMG School of Medicine, 1,365 death certificates in the three capitals were analyzed. The researchers cross-referenced mortality data and information from medical examinations, finding underreporting.
“Many times, death occurred before the exams were ready, so that the assistant physician declared as the underlying cause an ill-defined factor or a disease that, in fact, was an intermediary in the morbid process”, highlighted the professor at the Faculty of Medicine. Elisabeth França, who coordinated the study.
In the official records, among the reasons for the deaths are severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), unspecified pneumonia, sepsis, respiratory failure and ill-defined causes.
“The work demand for the health teams was so great that errors also occurred in the registration of causes of death, such as the inversion of intermediate causes with the underlying cause”, added the coordinator.
The researchers observed greater underreporting among the elderly (25.5%) than among people younger than 60 years (17.3%). According to the researchers, in 2020 alone, nationally, there was underreporting of 37,163 deaths from covid-19.
“It depends on the doctor to define the cause that will be declared as basic for the death. We need to invest in the infrastructure of health services, as the unavailability of test results at the time of death may have been one of the main factors for underreporting,” said França.
