Factors Associated with Differential COVID-19 Mortality Rates in the SEAR Nations: a Narrative Review

Overview

Journal IJID Reg

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2022 Jun 20

PMID 35720145

Authors

Rubina Mulchandani

Giridhara R Babu

Avinash Kaur

Ranjana Singh

Tanica Lyngdoh

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: Since December 2019, the world has been grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused severe loss of lives, the breakdown of health infrastructure, and disruption of the global economy. There is growing evidence on mortality patterns in high-income countries. However, similar evidence from low/middle-income nations is lacking. Our review aimed to describe COVID-19 mortality patterns in the WHO-SEAR nations, and explore the associated factors in order to explain such trends.

Methods: A systematic and comprehensive search was undertaken in PubMed and Google Scholar to obtain maximum hits on COVID-19 mortality and its determinants in the SEAR, using a combination of MeSH terms and Boolean operators. The data were narratively synthesized in detail under appropriate themes.

Results: Our search identified 6411 unique records. Mortality patterns were described in terms of important demographical and epidemiological indicators. Gaps in available evidence and paucity of adequate research in this area were also highlighted.

Conclusions: This review examined significant contributors to COVID-19 mortality across SEAR nations, while emphasizing issues relating to insufficient studies and data quality, and reporting challenges and other concerns in resource-constrained settings. There is a compelling need for more work in this area, to help inform decision making and improve public-health response.

Citing Articles

Country-level predictors of COVID-19 mortality.

Brown P Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):9263.

PMID: 37286632 PMC: 10245344. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36449-x.

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