Conceptions of Brazilian adults and elderly people about the Covid-19 pandemic and its social and political interfaces

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the conceptions of the Brazilian population about the Covid-19 pandemic in the interface with its social and political context. Cross-sectional study conducted in five Brazilian regions between May and June 2020. An online questionnaire was applied with socioeconomic variables and aspects related to the conception of Covid-19. Bivariate and multivariate analyses evaluated
the associations of the outcome ‘conceptions about the Covid-19 pandemic’. Of the 1,113 participants, 68.7% were infected or know someone and of these, 32.7% without hospitalization. Of the 90.4% who classified Covid-19 as a serious disease, 71.2% did not feel safe to care for the patient at home. About access to information, 51.1% accessed official and unofficial means and 90.0% considered social distancing necessary. In the multivariate analysis, conception about the severity of Covid-19 ‘being a disease like any other’ maintained the association with sex (OR=1.1756; p=0.025), region (OR=1.455; p=0.001), the pandemic in Brazil (OR=0.759; p=0.035), and the need for social distancing (OR=20.003; p=0.000). Advances in the pandemic combined
with dichotomous discourses will certainly bring complex consequences in the social, economic, and political crisis in the post-pandemic period.