Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35305852›Full record

ArticleHealth policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands)2022

Health and healthcare variables associated with Italy's excess mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: An ecological study.

Alessandra Buja, Matteo Paganini, Riccardo Fusinato, Claudia Cozzolino, Silvia Cocchio, Manuela Scioni, Vincenzo Rebba, Vincenzo Baldo, Giovanna Boccuzzo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Blockchain adoption challenges in the healthcare sector: a waste management perspective.Operations management research : advancing practice through research · 2025
    Article
  3. Measuring the Impact of Future Outbreaks? A Secondary Analysis of Routinely Available Data in Spain.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Alessandra BujaDepartment of Cardiologic, Vascular and Thoracic Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Via Loredan, 18, Padova 35131, Italy.
Matteo PaganiniDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo, 3, Padova 35131, Italy. Electronic address: matteo.paganini@unipd.it.
Riccardo FusinatoDepartment of Statistical Science, University of Padova, Via C. Battisti, 241, Padova 35121, Italy.
Claudia CozzolinoSurgical Oncology Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Via Gattamelata, 64, Padova 35128, Italy.
Silvia CocchioDepartment of Cardiologic, Vascular and Thoracic Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Via Loredan, 18, Padova 35131, Italy.
Manuela ScioniDepartment of Statistical Science, University of Padova, Via C. Battisti, 241, Padova 35121, Italy.
Vincenzo Rebba'Marco Fanno' Department of Economics and Management, University of Padova and CRIEP (Inter-University Center for Research on Public Economics), Via del Santo, 33, Padova 35123, Italy.
Vincenzo BaldoDepartment of Cardiologic, Vascular and Thoracic Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Via Loredan, 18, Padova 35131, Italy.
Giovanna BoccuzzoDepartment of Statistical Science, University of Padova, Via C. Battisti, 241, Padova 35121, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHealthcare factors have strongly influenced the propagation of COVID-19. This study aims to examine whether excess mortality during the first phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy was associated with health, healthcare, demographic, and socioeconomic, provincial-level indicators.

methodsThis ecological study concerns the raw number of deaths reported from February 1 to April 30, 2020 and the mean number of deaths occurred during the same months from 2015 to 2019, per province. Information on socioeconomic factors and healthcare settings was extracted from updated databases on the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) website. A multivariate model and four multilevel models were constructed to test the association between excess mortality and the analysed indicators across 107 Italian provinces.

resultsThe hospitalization rate in long-term care wards and the cardiovascular disease mortality rate correlate positively with excess mortality (p <0.05), while higher densities of licensed physicians and of general practitioners are associated with lower excess mortality (p <0.05). After controlling for the COVID-19 cumulative incidence in each province, only the density of licensed physicians remains negatively associated with excess mortality (p <0.01).

conclusionSome health and healthcare variables (in particular, the density of physicians) are strongly associated with excess mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and should be targeted to increase the resilience of health systems.

Indexed as

COVID-19Delivery of Health CareHumansItalyMortalityPandemicsSARS-CoV-2COVID-19Ecological studiesHealthcarePandemicSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID35305852
PMCPMC8902063

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.