Syphilis in pregnant women and congenital syphilis: spatial pattern and relationship with social determinants of health in Mato Grosso

Abstract INTRODUCTION: The increasing incidence of syphilis among pregnant women (PS) and congenital syphilis (CS) has negatively affected maternal-child health in Brazil. The spatial approach to diseases with social indicators improves knowledge of health situations. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the spatiotemporal distribution of incidences, identify the priority areas for infection control actions, and analyze the relationship of PS and CS clusters with social determinants of health in Mato Grosso. METHODS: This is an ecological study with data from different health information systems. After data procedure linkage, we analyzed the Bayesian incidences of triennial infections during specific periods. We performed SATSCAN screenings to identify spatiotemporal clusters. Further, we verified the differences between the clusters and indicators using Pearson’s chi-square test. RESULTS: The variations in PS incidence were 0.9-20.5/1,000 live births (LB), 0.6-46.3/1,000 LB, and 2.1-23.2/1,000 LB in the first, second, and last triennium, respectively; for CS, the variations were 0-7.1/1,000 LB, 0-7.5/1,000 LB, and 0.3-10.8/1,000 LB in the first, second, and last triennium, respectively. Three clusters each were identified for PS (RR=2.02; RR=0.30; RR=21.45, p