Mortes por COVID-19: entre óbitos e matérias jornalísticas no Espírito Santo, Brasil

Abstract

The power of the media to give visibility to health problems, associated with the rapid circulation of information, is essential for healthcare, especially in times of epidemics. This study proposed to analyze the mplement and approach to death due to COVID-19 in the media, relating it to the epidemiological data of the disease in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, from 2020 to 2021. A robot system, SIGCOVID-19, was used to capture 7,297 news articles. After mpleme and applying mplement and mplement criteria, a total of 1,803 articles was obtained, which were inserted using a protocol in Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap). The number of deaths was obtained from the COVID-19 Panel, of the State Department of Health, with 12,170 deaths registered. The data were organized by Epidemiological Weeks and the relative mplement, Spearman correlation, Pearson Chi-Square and the media death notice index were calculated. There was no significant correlation between the occurrence of deaths and the dissemination of articles (p-value = 0.053), contrary to what was observed for seasonal epidemic diseases, even though mortality from COVID-19 has received media attention. There was a proportional difference in the editorial categories Space (Espaço) (p-value = 0.009), Opinion Format (Formato Opinativo)(p-value = 0.590), Editing Elements and Cited Sources (Elementos de Edição e Fontes Citadas) (p-value < 0.0001), with a reduction in Infographics (Infográficos) (10.16 % to 1.40%) and increase in articles in the mplemen space (from 0.68% to 2.53%), in research/researchers sources (from 5.15% to 8.87%) and healthcare professionals (from 5.67% to 9.38%). Official/government sources predominated (44.43% in 2020 and 25.83% in 2021). The citizens source (8.45% in 2020 and 8.59% in 2021) was highlighted in dramatic stories. The socio-environmental factors and living conditions that increased the risk of infection and death were little highlighted in articles on mortality. It was felt that there was a need to debate how the criteria for valuing mpl should be brought closer to healthcare needs. Death needs to go beyond statistics and isolated biological concepts and be approached in contexts that empower it to mplemente public policies that support life.