Multimorbidity and use of health services in a population diagnosed with COVID-19 in a municipality in the Southern Region of Brazil, 2020-2021: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

To assess association between multimorbidity and use of health services in a population diagnosed with COVID-19, in southern Brazil. This was a cross-sectional study with data from a longitudinal study carried out in the city of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 2021 with all adult individuals diagnosed with COVID-19; descriptive analyses were performed and presented as proportions with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI); Poisson regression was performed and reported as prevalence ratios (PR) in order to assess association between multimorbidity (3 or more diseases) and healthcare service use. In total, 2,919 participants were included, of which 40.4% had multimorbidity (≥ 2 diseases); the adjusted results showed that individuals with multimorbidity were more likely to use most of the services assessed, PR = 3.21 (95%CI 1.40;7.37), for Emergency Rooms. Multimorbidity was associated with using different types of health services.