Analysis of prevalence and sociodemographic conditions among women in labor with and without COVID-19 in public hospitals in Chile

Abstract

Objectives: The SARS-CoV-2 virus continues wreaking worldwide havoc on health and between March and August 2020, the first outbreak of COVID-19 hit Chile. The pregnant population is especially vulnerable to infection. Studies have been published that associate socioeconomic status, overcrowding, and poverty with a higher prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. There are few studies about the development of this pandemic in Latin American countries so far. This study seeks to show the prevalence and sociodemographic and perinatal characteristics in pregnant women at the time of delivery, comparing both groups with positive and negative COVID-19 PCR results. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study of pregnant women who delivered at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santiago between April 15, 2020 and June 15, 2020. Analysis of epidemiological, sociodemographic, obstetric, perinatal and sociodemographic data of patients with positive and negative COVID-19 PCR results. Results: There were 701 patients included in the study. The prevalence of those with a positive COVID-19 PCR was 9.7% and 67.7% being asymptomatic. Pre-term delivery was significantly higher in the group of positive patients (23.5%) vs. negative patients (8.7%), which was not the same rate as with cesarean sections (C-sections). A 13.2% of patients required management of the pathology in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and there were no cases of maternal or fetal deaths. We found no significant difference between both groups when analyzing socioeconomic variables, though we noted a trend of greater overcrowding among the group of patients with infection. Conclusions: The majority of pregnant patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection are asymptomatic. COVID-19 increases the rate of premature births, but this rate is not same with C-sections. Sociodemographic conditions and overcrowding do not show a higher infection rate in a homogeneous population in relation to the economic, social and demographic level.