Women engaged in prostitution and COVID-19: why are they excluded from socially vulnerable groups?

This study analyzed the exposure of women engaged in prostitution in downtown São Paulo to COVID-19. This cross-sectional study had a convenience sample selected in May 2021. We interviewed 219, mostly black, middle-aged, poor women with comorbidities. Among them, 61 had shown COVID-19 symptoms, 23, tested positive for the disease, seven underwent hospitalization, and four reported post-COVID-19 complications. Only 26 (30.2%) had been vaccinated. In addition to gender, race, and class inequalities, these women suffer both from a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to their working conditions and from the subsequent worsening of that disease due to age and lack of vaccination.

WHODAS 2.0-BO: normative data for the assessment of disability in older adults

OBJECTIVE:

To examine the normative data of WHODAS 2.0-BO for older Brazilians (World Health Disability Assessment Schedule – Brazilian version for older people) and its distribution according to sex, age, health, subjective health perception, performance in a mobility test and presence of chronic diseases and depression.

METHODS:

Cross-sectional study, with 350 participants with 60 years of age or older, men and women, patients of a geriatric specialized center for medical consultations or rehabilitation. The older adults were evaluated using a semi-structured questionnaire containing demographic and clinical data (WHODAS 2.0-BO) and the geriatric depression scale (GDS), having been subsequently subjected to a mobility test (Timed Up and Go). The data were analyzed via their distribution in percentiles of the population and via analysis of variance.

RESULTS:

Two-hundred and sixty-six (76%) participants were women, and the average age was 71.8 (DP = 6.7) years old. The average score in WHODAS 2.0-BO was 4.3 (DP = 5.2) points, the highest value found having corresponded to 33 points. The average time for the Timed Up and Go test was 10.0 (SD = 3.2) seconds. About 30% of the older adults did not report any difficulties in the tasks evaluated by WHODAS 2.0-BO and half of the sample scored up to two points.

CONCLUSIONS:

A score corresponding to 12 points in the 90 percentile on a scale from zero to 40 was observed, which suggests severe disability. The score in WHODAS 2.0-BO increased with the advance in age, as well as in the presence of comorbidities, negative health perception, depression, high blood pressure, visual and hearing impairment and mobility impairment.