Association between excess mortality due to COVID-19, full vaccination coverage, smoking, hypertension, and gross domestic product per capita/purchasing power parity across 10 Southeast Asian Countries.

Objectives: Mass vaccination and cardiometabolic disorders have been reported to influence COVID-19 prognosis and mortality burden. We applied a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to explore the associations between COVID-19 mortality, full vaccination coverage, and cardiometabolic health indicators in Southeast Asia (SEAR). Methods: A region-wide ecological analysis of aggregate COVID-19 data from 10 SEAR countries (January 2020 to December 2022) was performed. The databases used were from the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center and the WHO Health Organization. Excess deaths associated with COVID-19 per 100,000 and case fatality rate were the outcome variables. A GLMM was performed to determine the predictors of COVID-19 mortality, and adjustments were made for sociodemographic variables. The statistical significance level was set at Results: The adjusted GLMM analysis showed that the number of excess deaths due to COVID-19 per 100,000 was strongly and positively associated with age-standardized smoking (coefficient of determination [coeff.] = 9.18 [standard error (SE): 2.15]; Conclusions: The study findings suggest that implementing effective public health interventions that would have increased vaccine uptake and improve cardiometabolic health on one hand and initiatives that enhance country-level economy on the other hand would have reduced COVID-19 mortality in the SEAR.