Maugeri Andrea, Barchitta Martina, Zaffar Syed Muhammad, Agodi Antonella
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "GF Ingrassia", University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 87, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Department of Economics and Business, University of Catania, Corso Italia 55, 95129 Catania, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2025 Jun 16;22(6):941. doi: 10.3390/ijerph22060941.
Immunization coverage is a key public health indicator reflecting healthcare accessibility and socio-economic conditions. This study employs Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to construct composite development scores and analyze their relationship with immunization coverage for measles and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccines across 195 countries (2000-2021). The analysis comprises a training period (2000-2015) for score development and a test period (2016-2021) for validation. Variables were selected based on correlation with immunization coverage and standardized before PCA extraction. PC1, the principal component explaining the largest variance, was identified as a key indicator of development disparities. Findings reveal that higher PC1 scores (lower socio-economic development) are associated with reduced immunization rates, while lower PC1 scores (higher socio-economic development) correspond to greater coverage, a trend consistent across both periods. Geospatial analysis highlights stark disparities, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, whereas North America, Europe, and East Asia maintain significantly higher coverage. These results provide policy-relevant insights, demonstrating the utility of PCA-derived scores for resource allocation and targeted interventions.
免疫接种覆盖率是反映医疗保健可及性和社会经济状况的关键公共卫生指标。本研究采用主成分分析（PCA）构建综合发展得分，并分析其与195个国家（2000 - 2021年）麻疹和白喉-破伤风-百日咳（DTP）疫苗免疫接种覆盖率之间的关系。该分析包括用于得分发展的训练期（2000 - 2015年）和用于验证的测试期（2016 - 2021年）。根据与免疫接种覆盖率的相关性选择变量，并在主成分分析提取之前进行标准化。解释最大方差的主成分PC1被确定为发展差距的关键指标。研究结果表明，较高的PC1得分（较低的社会经济发展水平）与较低的免疫接种率相关，而较低的PC1得分（较高的社会经济发展水平）对应较高的覆盖率，这一趋势在两个时期都是一致的。地理空间分析突出了显著的差距，特别是在撒哈拉以南非洲和南亚，而北美、欧洲和东亚的覆盖率则显著更高。这些结果提供了与政策相关的见解，证明了主成分分析得出的得分在资源分配和有针对性的干预措施方面的实用性。
