COVID-19 incidence and mortality in the Metropolitan Region, Chile: Time, space, and structural factors

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Abstract

Demographic, health, and socioeconomic factors significantly inform COVID-19 outcomes. This article analyzes the association of these factors and outcomes in Chile during the first five months of the pandemic. Using the municipalities Metropolitan Region’s municipalities as the unit of analysis, the study looks at the role of time dynamics, space, and place in cases and deaths over a 100-day period between March and July 2020. As a result, common and idiosyncratic elements explain the prevalence and dynamics of infections and mortality. Social determinants of health, particularly multidimensional poverty index and use of public transportation play an important role in explaining differences in outcomes. The article contributes to the understanding of the determinants of COVID-19 highlighting the need to consider time-space dynamics and social determinants as key in the analysis. Structural factors are important to identify at-risk populations and to select policy strategies to prevent and mitigate the effects of COVID-19. The results are especially relevant for similar research in unequal settings.

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  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.09.15.20194951: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    NIH rigor criteria are not applicable to paper type.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Incidence and mortality data were collected and calculated using Microsoft Excel.
    Microsoft Excel
    suggested: (Microsoft Excel, RRID:SCR_016137)
    Descriptive statistics and multivariable regressions were estimated using STATA, and spatial analysis and visualizations were conducted in GeoDa.
    STATA
    suggested: (Stata, RRID:SCR_012763)

    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:
    The article has some limitations that need to be taken into account when interpreting the results. First, there are time-differences between dependent and independent variables: while dependent variables reflect information between March and July 2020, independent variables come mainly from a survey carried out three years before. Unfortunately, there is no other municipality-level representative source with more updated information. However, most of the variables are expected to be similar today. There are at least two reasons for this. First, aggregated data is expected to change slower than individual-level data. Second, as discussed above, most variables reflect structural factors—such as demographic and socioeconomic features—that are not expected to change significantly in a three-year period. This is also expected for “policy tools” variables (such as the patterns of use of public transportation) in absence of a policy shock. Second, there is a difficulty in choosing the concrete way to measure the relevant outcomes. Of course, different specifications can lead to different results. In this analysis, the issue was confronted by using several perspectives (infections and deaths, and levels and change). In a similar vein, methodological choices are also required when selecting the unit of analysis. In this case, we focused on municipalities and used percentages of individuals (instead of, for example, households) to calculate the independent variables. Finally, regarding...

    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.

    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.