Abstract
The PNAD COVID-19 survey conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) between May and November 2020 aimed to estimate the number of individuals reporting symptoms associated with flu-like syndrome and to monitor the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Brazil’s labor market; using its microdata, this study sought to describe the sociodemographic profile, health characteristics, and reported symptoms of beneficiaries of medical health plans in the context of COVID-19 in Brazil, contributing to planning, monitoring, and the understanding of supplementary health statistics; results showed that in November 2020 Brazil had 212 million inhabitants, of whom 58 million (27%) had a medical health plan (private, employer-based, or public sector), while 154 million (73%) did not have access to supplementary health care and relied on the public system (SUS) or out-of-pocket payments; among the 58 million beneficiaries, 317,000 reported experiencing combined symptoms of flu-like syndrome potentially associated with COVID-19, and 256,000 reported loss of smell or taste, the most commonly reported symptom; additionally, 15 million beneficiaries had at least one comorbidity, including 8 million with hypertension, 4 million with chronic respiratory diseases (such as asthma, bronchitis, or emphysema), 3 million with diabetes, 2 million with depression, 2 million with heart diseases (including heart attack, angina, heart failure, or arrhythmia), and 924,000 with cancer, with a higher proportion of chronic conditions and risk factors observed among beneficiaries compared to non-beneficiaries; between May and November 2020, higher levels of education were associated with greater likelihood of undergoing COVID-19 testing regardless of health plan status, with testing rates of 7.3% among those with low education, 17% among those with secondary education, and 28% among those with higher education, while the highest testing rates by age group were observed among individuals aged 30–39 and 40–49 (both 19%), followed by 50–59 (16%), with consistently higher rates among health plan beneficiaries; among beneficiaries, 13 million reported having taken a COVID-19 test, with the most common being the swab test (6.7 million tests, 1.8 million positive—26%), followed by finger-prick blood tests (4.8 million tests, 635,000 positive—13%) and venous blood tests (3.9 million tests, 829,000 positive—21%).
