Associação da idade e gênero na adesão vacinal contra a Covid-19 no nordeste brasileiro

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant challenge for Brazil, significantly affecting public health, the economy and the daily lives of Brazilians. Initial strategies to contain the spread of the virus were suggested by health agencies and included social distancing, hand hygiene, the use of masks and the implementation of strict decrees, such as social isolation and the suspension of non-essential activities. These measures were crucial to ensure control of the number of cases until the arrival of vaccines, which became the main strategy to contain the spread of the coronavirus and trigger the country's recovery process. With the arrival of vaccines, it became necessary to analyze sociodemographic factors that may be correlated with popular adherence to the vaccination schedule. This understanding is essential in order to identify the variables that may affect the likelihood of the population adhering to the measures available to control potentially pandemic diseases, such as COVID-19, making their investigation indispensable. OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between age and gender and adherence to the COVID-19 vaccination schedule in the northeast region of Brazil. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional observational study carried out between March and September 2023 in the northeast of Brazil. The data were obtained in the sociodemographic characterization phase of the ADHERE questionnaire validation study. The study's dependency variable was the population's adherence to vaccination against COVID-19, reflected in adherence to the vaccination schedule recommended by the authorities at the time of the survey (minimum of 3 doses) and in the number of doses received reported by the participants. For the descriptive analysis of the study, categorical variables were described as absolute (n) and relative (%) frequencies, while continuous variables were described as median and interquartile range (IQ 25-75%). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to analyze the normality of the data. In order to categorize participants in terms of their adherence to the recommended vaccination schedule, they were divided into two groups (complete vaccination schedule and incomplete vaccination schedule). Those who reported being immunized with 3 or more doses were classified in the complete vaccination schedule group, and those who reported receiving less than 3 doses or no doses were allocated to the incomplete vaccination schedule group. To categorize gender, participants were classified as female, male and other. Spearman's correlation was used to analyze the association between gender and the vaccination schedule. Pearson's correlation was used to analyze the association between age (in years) and the number of doses of COVID-19 vaccination. The statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences - SPSS, version 20.0. RESULTS: A total of 897 forms were analyzed. Increasing age (in years) was positively and weakly associated with the number of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine received by participants (r = 0.16; p-value < 0.001). There was no association between gender and adherence to the recommended vaccination schedule. CONCLUSION: It is important to investigate the other variables that make up a broad context directly influencing health-related behavior and adherence to the complete vaccination schedule against COVID-19. Understanding the other factors is essential for developing effective public health promotion strategies.