COVID-19 Susceptibility, Mortality, and Length of hospitalization based on age-sex composition: Evidence from Davao Region Philippines

  1. Roel F. Ceballos

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Abstract

The coronavirus disease is spreading continuously worldwide with an unprecedented amount of impact on every human society. In order to reduce the risks of infections and mortality, several interventions such as mobility restrictions for different age groups and vaccination prioritization programs are implemented in the Philippines. Identifying age-sex composition with greater susceptibility, longer hospitalization, and higher fatality is useful to guide the targeted intervention and establish risk stratification for patients infected with COVID-19 within communities and localities. Furthermore, it is also helpful in the allocation of medical resources and assessment of vaccination priority. We analyzed the COVID-19 data provided by the Davao Center for Health Development of the Department of Health Davao Region in the Philippines. The dataset contains records of COVID-19 cases reported from March 2020 to April 2021. Methods that were used include descriptive statistics, graphical presentations, and nonparametric statistical methods. The study reveals that male children and female senior citizens are the most susceptible age-sex composition while male senior citizen is the subgroup with the highest case fatality and mortality. Furthermore, regardless of sex groups, the senior citizen is the subgroup with the longest hospitalization. Susceptibility due to exposure should be included as a criterion in determining the age-sex compositions for vaccination priority against COVID-19 and other potentially deadly viruses. Further, Proper planning and allocation of medical resources for the elderly should be prioritized in the provincial levels.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.06.20.21259222: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableThe male to female sex ratio was also used to compare the susceptibility and mortality of the different age groups by the province in the Davao Region.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Therefore, it is imperative to achieve these goals such that the most susceptible population subgroups with longer hospitalization tendency and at higher risk of mortality shall be prioritized by vaccinations and should be considered in policies concerning overall COVID-19 management such as allocation of hospital resources and limitations of mobility. This study aims to identify age and sex composition with greater susceptibility, longer hospitalization, and higher fatality to provide a guide for the targeted intervention and the establishment of risk stratification for patients infected with COVID-19 and allocation of medical resources and assessment of vaccination priority. Results reveal that the working adults are the most susceptible among the age groups, followed by the senior citizens. The working adult group is composed of frontline health workers and essential workers. Thus, this group has greater exposure to COVID-19 infection because the nature of their work requires them to move around constantly8. On the other hand, senior citizens have greater susceptibility, despite having lower exposure. The COVID-19 Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) in the Phippines prohibits senior citizens from going around except for buying food and medicine because they are prone to comorbidity and low immune system9. Senior citizens have the highest case fatality and mortality rate. It is imperative that the senior citizens should be prote...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.06.20.21259222v1 on medRxiv