Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Enrique Acosta
Summary: Estimating global deaths caused by COVID-19 is a complex task, as demonstrated by the attempt to measure global excess mortality in 2020 and 2021.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Hugo Pilkington, Thierry Feuillet, Stephane Rican, Jeanne Goupil de Bouille, Olivier Bouchaud, Johann Cailhol, Helene Bihan, Pierre Lombrail, Chantal Julia
Summary: This study investigated the spatial distribution of excess mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in France, finding that departments with higher urbanization and lower primary healthcare supply had significantly higher excess mortality in the 50-74 and > 74 age groups. Additionally, excess mortality in different age groups was positively or negatively associated with factors such as pharmacist supply, work-related mobility, deprivation, and morbidity. Associations between excess mortality and contextual variables varied significantly across departments. Public health strategies targeting future epidemics should consider all dimensions involved to develop efficient and locally tailored policies within the context of a socially and spatially complex situation.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Sushma Dahal, Juan M. Banda, Ana I. Bento, Kenji Mizumoto, Gerardo Chowell
Summary: The study estimated the all-cause excess mortality rate associated with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico, with males having a two-fold excess mortality rate compared to females. Mexico City reported the highest excess death rate. Although COVID-19 deaths accounted for only 38.64% of total excess deaths in Mexico, forecasts indicate approximately 61,610 excess deaths occurred in January 2021.
BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Anneliese N. Luck, Samuel H. Preston, Irma T. Elo, Andrew C. Stokes
Summary: This study examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mortality rates by underlying cause of death and race/ethnicity. Findings show that although Covid-19 death rates were highest among the Hispanic community, the largest increase in all-cause mortality occurred among the Black population. The study also reveals significant increases in mortality from heart disease, diabetes, and external causes of death within the Black population. Interestingly, percentage increases in all-cause mortality were similar between men and women, as well as for different age groups within the Black and White populations, while the Hispanic population saw the greatest percentage increases in mortality among working-aged men.
SSM-POPULATION HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Min Sun Shin, Boram Sim, Won Mo Jang, Jin Yong Lee
Summary: The study aimed to estimate overall and regional excess all-cause mortality during the pandemic in Korea. Results showed no annual excess all-cause mortality in 2020 compared to the previous ten years, but there were monthly and regional variations due to the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. It is important to regularly investigate COVID-19-related mortality and its direct and indirect causes in the era of the pandemic.
JOURNAL OF KOREAN MEDICAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Alicia R. Riley, Yea-Hung Chen, Ellicott C. Matthay, M. Maria Glymour, Jacqueline M. Torres, Alicia Fernandez, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo
Summary: A study found that Latino people in California experienced higher excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those born in Mexico or Central American countries, with lower educational attainment, and working in food/agriculture or manufacturing. Immigrant disadvantages in excess death were magnified among working-age Latinos in essential occupations. Interventions to reduce these inequities should include targeted vaccination, workplace safety enforcement, and expanded access to medical care and economic support.
SSM-POPULATION HEALTH
(2021)
Letter
Medicine, General & Internal
Alyssa Bilinski, Kathryn Thompson, Ezekiel Emanuel
Summary: This study compares the per capita overall and excess mortality rates of COVID-19 in the US with rates for 20 OECD countries, and analyzes the timing of increases in excess mortality between June 2021 and December 2021 (Delta) and December 2021 to March 2022 (Omicron).
JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Emilio A. L. Gianicolo, Antonello Russo, Britta Buechler, Katherine Taylor, Andreas Stang, Maria Blettner
Summary: Through comparing data from Italy between 2015-2019 and the first 26 weeks of 2020, it was found that the excess mortality remained higher than the official COVID-19 death toll, especially among elderly males. The population aging and increase in proportion of elderly males may have contributed to biases in previous estimates of excess mortality.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Neftali Eduardo Antonio-Villa, Omar Yaxmehen Bello-Chavolla, Carlos A. Fermin-Martinez, Jose Manuel Aburto, Luisa Fernandez-Chirino, Daniel Ramirez-Garcia, Julio Pisanty-Alatorre, Armando Gonzalez-Diaz, Arsenio Vargas-Vazquez, Simon Barquera, Luis Miguel Gutierrez-Robledo, Jacqueline A. Seiglie
Summary: In 2020, Mexico experienced a high rate of excess mortality, with one-fifth of the excess deaths caused by non-COVID-19 factors, primarily chronic cardiometabolic conditions. Non-COVID-19 excess deaths occurred predominantly outside of hospitals and were associated with individual and municipal socio-demographic inequalities.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Scott D. Greenwald, Nassib G. Chamoun, Paul J. Manberg, Josh Gray, David Clain, Kamal Maheshwari, Daniel Sessler
Summary: This study estimated excess mortality in Medicare recipients in the United States with probable and confirmed Covid-19 infections, finding significant effects on mortality rates which varied depending on the context. Probable or confirmed Covid-19 diagnoses increased mortality rates in both the community and long-term care facilities, but the percentage increase was higher in the community. Interestingly, there were fewer deaths than expected in community dwellers without Covid-19 diagnoses, potentially due to disruptions in the healthcare system and avoided medical care.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Haidong Wang, Katherine R. Paulson, Spencer A. Pease, Stefanie Watson, Haley Comfort, Peng Zheng, Aleksandr Y. Aravkin, Catherine Bisignano, Ryan M. Barber, Tahiya Alam, John E. Fuller, Erin A. May, Darwin Phan Jones, Meghan E. Frisch, Cristiana Abbafati, Christopher Adolph, Adrien Allorant, Joanne O. Amlag, Bree Bang-Jensen, Gregory J. Bertolacci, Sabina S. Bloom, Austin Carter, Emma Castro, Suman Chakrabarti, Jhilik Chattopadhyay, Rebecca M. Cogen, James K. Collins, Kimberly Cooperrider, Xiaochen Dai, William James Dangel, Farah Daoud, Carolyn Dapper, Amanda Deen, Bruce B. Duncan, Megan Erickson, Samuel B. Ewald, Tatiana Fedosseeva, Alize J. Ferrari, Joseph Jon Frostad, Nancy Fullman, John Gallagher, Amiran Gamkrelidze, Gaorui Guo, Jiawei He, Monika Helak, Nathaniel J. Henry, Erin N. Hulland, Bethany M. Huntley, Maia Kereselidze, Alice Lazzar-Atwood, Kate E. LeGrand, Akiaja Lindstrom, Emily Linebarger, Paulo A. Lotufo, Rafael Lozano, Beatrice Magistro, Deborah Carvalho Malta, Johan Mansson, Ana M. Mantilla Herrera, Fatima Marinho, Alemnesh H. Mirkuzie, Awoke Temesgen Misganaw, Lorenzo Monasta, Paulami Naik, Shuhei Nomura, Edward G. O'Brien, James Kevin O'Halloran, Latera Tesfaye Olana, Samuel M. Ostroff, Louise Penberthy, Robert C. Reiner Jr, Grace Reinke, Antonio Luiz P. Ribeiro, Damian Francesco Santomauro, Maria Ines Schmidt, David H. Shaw, Brittney S. Sheena, Aleksei Sholokhov, Natia Skhvitaridze, Reed J. D. Sorensen, Emma Elizabeth Spurlock, Ruri Syailendrawati, Roman Topor-Madry, Christopher E. Troeger, Rebecca Walcott, Ally Walker, Charles Shey Wiysonge, Nahom Alemseged Worku, Bethany Zigler, David M. Pigott, Mohsen Naghavi, Ali H. Mokdad, Stephen S. Lim, Simon Hay, Emmanuela Gakidou, Christopher J. L. Murray
Summary: This study estimated excess mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic in 191 countries and territories, as well as 252 subnational units in selected countries from Jan 1, 2020, to Dec 31, 2021. The findings showed that globally, there were 18.2 million excess deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic during this period. The highest excess mortality rates were observed in countries such as India, the USA, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Bette Liu, Sandrine Stepien, Timothy Dobbins, Heather Gidding, David Henry, Rosemary Korda, Lucas Mills, Sallie-Anne Pearson, Nicole Pratt, Claire M. Vajdic, Jennifer Welsh, Kristine Macartney
Summary: This study examines the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against COVID-19 and all-cause mortality during different periods in 2022 using data from Australia. The findings show that the effectiveness of the vaccines in preventing COVID-19 mortality decreases over time since the last dose, emphasizing the importance of administering booster doses to those at highest risk.
LANCET REGIONAL HEALTH-WESTERN PACIFIC
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
William Msemburi, Ariel Karlinsky, Victoria Knutson, Serge Aleshin-Guendel, Somnath Chatterji, Jon Wakefield
Summary: The World Health Organization has been tracking the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic since the beginning of 2020. Reported statistics on COVID-19 mortality vary across countries due to testing access, diagnostic capacity, and inconsistent cause of death certification. This study provides a comprehensive measurement of the pandemic's impact by estimating excess deaths globally, which are 2.74 times more than reported COVID-19 deaths. There are significant variations in excess death estimates across different regions, highlighting the need for better reporting.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Saditt Rocio Robles Colonia, Lara Morena Cardeal, Rogerio Antonio de Oliveira, Luzia Aparecida Trinca
Summary: We estimated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality in Brazil for 2020 and 2021. The estimated all-cause excess deaths were 187,842 for weeks 10-53, 2020, and 441,048 for weeks 1-52, 2021. The pandemic impact had enormous regional heterogeneity and substantial differences according to socio-demographic factors, mainly during the first wave, showing that some population strata benefited from the social distancing measures when they could adhere to them.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Michael Muehlichen, Markus Sauerberg, Pavel Grigoriev
Summary: This study aims to assess the cause-specific, spatial, and seasonal mortality effects attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany in 2020. The findings reveal that different regions in Germany were affected to varying degrees, with older age groups and deaths reported in December being more heavily impacted.
JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND GLOBAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ji Eun Min, Da-An Huh, Kyong Whan Moon
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2020)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Whanhee Lee, Kristi Prifti, Ho Kim, Ejin Kim, Juyeon Yang, Jieun Min, Jae Yoon Park, Yong Chul Kim, Jung Pyo Lee, Michelle L. Bell
Summary: Long-term exposure to air pollution is associated with reduced kidney function, and short-term exposure can aggravate kidney disease and increase the burden on emergency rooms. This study provides quantitative estimates of the impact of air pollution on emergency room visits and supports stricter air quality standards to protect kidney patients.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jieun Min, Dohoon Kwon, Whanhee Lee, Cinoo Kang, Chaerin Park, Seulkee Heo, Michelle L. Bell, Ho Kim
Summary: This study explored the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and examined the association between individual and regional characteristics and changes in mental health. The findings showed that the prevalence of moderate stress, extreme stress, and depression increased during the pandemic, especially in districts with high population density and individuals with higher education and household income. Reduced physical activity was positively associated with increased stress, while mutual trust among neighbors and the number of sports facilities were negatively associated with increased stress. Local tax per person had a positive association with increased depression.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jieun Min, Jieun Oh, Soo In Kim, Cinoo Kang, Eunhee Ha, Ho Kim, Whanhee Lee
Summary: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide in South Korea was investigated, and it was found that suicide decreased during the pandemic, especially during the first and third waves. The decrease in suicide was more evident in males, middle-aged individuals, highly educated individuals, and married individuals.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jinah Park, Cinoo Kang, Jieun Min, Ejin Kim, Insung Song, Hyemin Jang, Dohoon Kwon, Jieun Oh, Jeongmin Moon, Ho Kim, Whanhee Lee
Summary: This study investigates the association between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and chronic sleep deprivation through a nationwide survey in South Korea. The findings show a positive correlation between long-term PM2.5 exposure and chronic sleep deprivation, with a stronger effect in the elderly population.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)