Kassie Maru Zewdu, Yilema Seyifemickael Amare, Belay Alebachew Taye, Rad Najmeh Nakhaei, Chen Ding-Geng
Department of Statistics, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Assosa University, Assosa, Ethiopia.
Department of Statistics, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia.
Health Econ Rev. 2025 Aug 22;15(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s13561-025-00637-4.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most significant global health crises in recent years. This study aimed to assess the determinants of perceived financial threat of COVID-19 and its implications on household's economic stability in Ethiopia.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 3058 households from the third round of the COVID-19 high-frequency phone survey of households (HFPS-HH) data, executed by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia in partnership with the World Bank. The data were extracted and managed using STATA version 17. A partial proportional odds model was applied to assess the significant predictors that affect the perceived financial threat of COVID-19.
The analysis revealed that 79.9% of respondents (95% CI: 78.5-81.4%) experienced some level of financial threat from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the majority of them (61.7%; 95% CI: 60.0-63.4%) perceiving it as a substantial financial threat. Key factors of financial threat included Age [AOR = 1.280, P = 0.008]; COVID-19 illness worry for substantial threat (AOR = 0.546, p < 0.001), for moderate threat (AOR = 0.562, P = 0.005)]; Ability to buy medicine for substantial threat [AOR = 0.546, p < 0.001], for moderate threat [AOR = 0.562, p = 0.005]; employed [AOR = 1.310, p = 0.014]; engagement in additional income activities for substantial threat [AOR = 3.428, p < 0.001], and for moderate threat [AOR = 3.043, P = 0.018].
The findings revealed that a significant proportion of respondents perceived COVID-19 as a financial threat, which adversely affected their economic stability. Vulnerability to financial threat was notably higher among older individuals, the unemployed, those unable to afford essential medicine, and respondents who expressed heightened concern about illness. In contrast, engagement in additional income-generating activities served as a protective factor. These results underscore the need for policymakers to prioritize inclusive social protection systems, expand access to affordable healthcare, promote employment opportunities, and facilitate income diversification. Such interventions are critical to enhancing household economic resilience and enabling a rapid response to future public health and economic crises. Additionally, future research should consider longitudinal designs to track changes in perceptions over time and incorporate broader economic indicators.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行是近年来最严重的全球健康危机之一。本研究旨在评估COVID-19感知财务威胁的决定因素及其对埃塞俄比亚家庭经济稳定性的影响。
对埃塞俄比亚中央统计局与世界银行合作开展的第三轮COVID-19家庭高频电话调查（HFPS-HH）数据中的3058户家庭进行了横断面研究。使用STATA 17版本提取和管理数据。应用部分比例优势模型来评估影响COVID-19感知财务威胁的重要预测因素。
分析显示，79.9%的受访者（95%置信区间：78.5-81.4%）经历了某种程度的来自COVID-19大流行的财务威胁，其中大多数人（61.7%；95%置信区间：60.0-63.4%）将其视为重大财务威胁。财务威胁的关键因素包括年龄[AOR = 1.280，P = 0.008]；对重大威胁的COVID-19疾病担忧（AOR = 0.546，p < 0.001），对中度威胁的担忧（AOR = 0.562，P = 0.005）]；购买药品的能力，对重大威胁而言[AOR = 0.546，p < 0.001]，对中度威胁而言[AOR = 0.562，p = 0.005]；就业[AOR = 1.310，p = 0.014]；参与额外收入活动，对重大威胁而言[AOR = 3.428，p < 0.001]，对中度威胁而言[AOR = 3.043，P = 0.018]。
研究结果表明，很大一部分受访者将COVID-19视为财务威胁，这对他们的经济稳定性产生了不利影响。老年人、失业者、无力购买基本药品的人以及对疾病表示高度担忧的受访者面临财务威胁的脆弱性明显更高。相比之下，参与额外的创收活动是一个保护因素。这些结果强调政策制定者需要优先建立包容性社会保护体系，扩大获得负担得起的医疗保健的机会，促进就业机会，并推动收入多样化。此类干预措施对于增强家庭经济复原力以及快速应对未来的公共卫生和经济危机至关重要。此外，未来的研究应考虑采用纵向设计来跟踪随时间变化的认知，并纳入更广泛的经济指标。
