ArticleGerms2021
Across regions: Are most COVID-19 deaths above or below life expectancy?
Article in Germs, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy at birth in India: a decomposition analysis.BMC public health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionLife expectancy varies across geographical and political landscapes for a multitude of reasons. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the 2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and pandemic, is present in 215 countries, and is described as a pathogen that is most deadly to individuals 65 years and older. However, it is unclear if the majority of COVID-19-related deaths are targeting individuals above or below life expectancy.
methodsThrough seven months of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, an association between life expectancy and COVID-19 related deaths was assessed. The reported age of those suffering from COVID-19-related deaths was evaluated across eight countries (United States, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, and Switzerland), and placed into binary categories depending on whether or not the death occurred above or below the country's life expectancy.
resultsGiven this dataset, it was observed that there was a greater proportion of COVID related deaths above life expectancy (M=64.58%, SD=6.46) as opposed to below life expectancy (M=35.41%, SD=6.46), as these differences were significant (95%CI [18.518, 42.881], p<0.001). In contrast, an insignificant trend was observed when examining the relationship between deaths above life expectancy and Gini index (Pearson correlation coefficient r= -0.62, n=8, p=0.09). The disparity, or percent difference in death occurring above versus below life expectancy was greatest in the countries with life expectancies of 80+ (Sweden, Switzerland, Germany).
conclusionsConsidering life expectancy may be an appropriate approach for reporting COVID-19-related deaths, as well as planning responses to localized COVID-19 outbreaks, prioritizing drug treatment, and assessing ICU capacity.
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