CONHECIMENTO DE PROFISSIONAIS DA SAÚDE SOBRE CRITÉRIOS ÉTICOS NA PRIORIZAÇÃO E RACIONAMENTO DE CUIDADOS NA PANDEMIA DA COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: In times of crisis and with the scarcity of resources in health systems, hospitals and health professionals, with guidance from public authorities and professional bodies, should use basic ethical principles to ensure the best health outcomes and a fair and transparent distribution. Objective: To analyze the knowledge of health professionals about the ethical criteria applied in hypothetical situations of prioritization and rationing of health care in the pandemic of COVID-19. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study of quantitative approach, of survey type, carried out in the period from June to December 2020. The research participants were health professionals acting in assistance or management during the pandemic of COVID-19 in Brazil, selected by snowball sampling. A questionnaire was applied to evaluate knowledge about ethical criteria, developed by the researchers, with 14 questions that present hypothetical situations of prioritization and rationing of health care amid the pandemic of COVID-19, with a maximum score of 70 points. A questionnaire with 12 questions regarding sociodemographic data and self-assessment of knowledge in bioethics was also applied. The data were processed and analyzed using the R Core Team (2020) program for the general results and the significance level of 0.05. The model of Accountability for Reasonableness, proposed by Norman Daniels, was used as a theoretical reference for the discussion. The project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the proponent institution, CAAE: 31479820.5.0000.0021. Results: A total of 197 health professionals participated in the study, being 74 (37.6%) nurses and 45 (22.8%) physicians, working at the Family Health Unit (28.4%) with a specialization degree (46.2%). They reported having no previous knowledge about bioethics, 7 (9.5%) of the nurses, 4 (18.2%) of the dental surgeons, and 11 (24.4%) of the physicians. Physicians and hospital workers showed higher scores on the knowledge assessment questionnaire, demonstrating a better notion of the application of ethical criteria. Conclusion: The survey shows that in the evaluation of knowledge, the participants had a score that indicates little knowledge about the ethical criteria applied, emphasizing that they may not know how to act ethically when faced with these situations.