Department of Economics, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainable Development, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 3;14(1):12702. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-63766-6.
This paper analyzes the determinants of COVID-19 mortality across over 140 countries in 2020, with a focus on healthcare expenditure and corruption. It finds a positive association between COVID-19 deaths and aging populations, obesity rates, and healthcare expenditure while noting a negative association with rural residency and corruption perception. The study further reveals that mortality is positively associated with aging populations in high-income countries and positively associated with obesity in upper-middle to high-income countries. Mortality is positively associated with healthcare expenditure, which likely reflects a country's preparedness and ability to better track, document, and report COVID-19 deaths. On the other hand, mortality is negatively associated with corruption perception in upper-middle-income countries. Further analyses based on 2021 data reveal COVID-19 deaths are positively associated with the proportion of the population aged 65 and older in low to lower-middle-income countries, with obesity in high-income countries, and with tobacco use across most countries. Interestingly, there is no evidence linking COVID-19 deaths to healthcare expenditure and corruption perception, suggesting a post-2020 convergence in preparedness likely due to proactive pandemic responses, which might have also mitigated corruption's impact. Policy recommendations are proposed to aid the elderly, address obesity, and combat tobacco use.
本文分析了 2020 年超过 140 个国家 COVID-19 死亡率的决定因素，重点关注医疗保健支出和腐败。研究发现，COVID-19 死亡人数与人口老龄化、肥胖率和医疗保健支出呈正相关，而与农村居住和腐败感知呈负相关。研究还表明，在高收入国家，死亡率与人口老龄化呈正相关，而在中高收入国家，死亡率与肥胖呈正相关。死亡率与医疗保健支出呈正相关，这可能反映了一个国家的准备情况和更好地跟踪、记录和报告 COVID-19 死亡人数的能力。另一方面，死亡率与中高收入国家的腐败感知呈负相关。基于 2021 年数据的进一步分析表明，在低收入和中下等收入国家，COVID-19 死亡人数与 65 岁及以上人口比例呈正相关，在高收入国家与肥胖率呈正相关，在大多数国家与烟草使用呈正相关。有趣的是，没有证据表明 COVID-19 死亡人数与医疗保健支出和腐败感知有关，这表明 2020 年后准备工作可能趋同，这可能是由于积极的大流行应对措施，这些措施也可能减轻了腐败的影响。本文提出了一些政策建议，以帮助老年人、解决肥胖问题和打击烟草使用。
