Assessing health impact of COVID-19 and associated household socioeconomic factors in Papua New Guinea: evidence from the Comprehensive Health and Epidemiological Surveillance System.

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on the health and well-being of populations worldwide. Few studies have used household data to explore the health risks associated with COVID-19 in low-income and middle-income countries. This study assessed population vulnerability to COVID-19 by examining household socioeconomic factors related to COVID-19 health risks in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

METHODS

Using household socioeconomic surveillance data from 2020, encompassing 37 880 residents living within the catchment areas of the Comprehensive Health and Epidemiological Surveillance System, the study assessed COVID-19 health risks based on the socioeconomic demographic characteristics of the surveillance population. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine associated factors and to estimate predictors of COVID-19 health risks.

RESULTS

Among the surveillance population, more than 9% reported experiencing COVID-19 health risks, including home-based quarantine (9.6%), centre-based quarantine (0.5%), positive COVID-19 test (0.1%), hospitalisation due to COVID-19 (0.3%) and death from COVID-19 (0.3%). People living in semimodern houses (OR 1.47 (95% CI 1.35 to 1.61)) (verse permanent houses), individuals living in houses with 1-2 bedrooms (OR 1.12 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.25)) (verse houses with 4+ bedrooms) and those belonging to the poorest wealth quintile (OR 1.16 (95% CI 1.024 to 1.314)) (verse the richest) were more susceptible to COVID-19 health risks. Protective factors against COVID-19 health risks included urban residence (OR 0.65 (95% CI 0.59 to 0.71)) (verse rurality), aged 0-4 years (OR 0.76 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.91)) (verse aged 55+ years), households with 7-8 members (OR 0.84 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.96)) (verse 10+ members), handwashing with soap (OR 0.3 (95% CI 0.28 to 0.33)) (verse without soap).

CONCLUSIONS

The study provides insights into the susceptibility to COVID-19 health risks across socioeconomic groups in PNG. These findings have implications for development of public health policies and interventions that can be extrapolated to similar settings for enhancing preparedness for future public health emergencies.