ELSI-COVID-19 initiative: methodology of the telephone survey on coronavirus in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging

The COVID-19 pandemic (caused by the SARS-CoV-2) is a public health emergency of international concern that particularly affects older people. Brazil is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, ranking second with the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths worldwide as of mid-June 2020. The ELSI-COVID-19 initiative is based on telephone interviews with participants of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI-Brazil), conducted on a nationally representative sample of the population aged 50 or older. This initiative aims to provide information on adherence to preventive measures (social distancing, wearing masks, and handwashing/hygiene); reasons for leaving the house, when that was the case; difficulties obtaining medications, medical diagnosis of COVID-19, and receipt of confirmatory results; use of health-care services (recent care-seeking, care-seeking location, care receipt, among other aspects); and mental health (sleep, depression, and loneliness). The first round of telephone interviews was conducted between May 26 and June 8, 2020. The second and third rounds are expected to occur within the coming months. This article presents this initiative methodology and some sociodemographic characteristics of the 6,149 participants in the survey first round, relative the Brazilian population within the same age group.

由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2型（SARS-CoV-2）引发的新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）疫情是国际关注的突发公共卫生事件，老年群体受其影响尤为显著。巴西是受该疫情冲击最严重的国家之一，截至2020年6月中旬，其确诊病例数与死亡数均位居全球第二。ELSI-COVID-19研究项目基于对巴西老龄化纵向研究（ELSI-Brazil）参与者开展的电话访谈，其抽样对象为全国范围内50岁及以上的具有代表性的人群。该项目旨在收集多维度信息：防疫措施依从性（社交距离保持、口罩佩戴及洗手/手部卫生）；外出活动的具体原因；购药困难、新冠病毒感染的医学诊断及确认结果获取情况；医疗服务使用情况（近期就医行为、就诊地点、诊疗服务获取情况等多方面）；以及心理健康状况（睡眠、抑郁及孤独感）。首轮电话访谈于2020年5月26日至6月8日期间开展，第二、三轮访谈预计将在未来数月内进行。本文介绍了该研究项目的方法学，以及首轮调研的6149名参与者的部分社会人口学特征，并与同年龄段的巴西人群进行了对照。