The evaluation of the correlation between some variables of the countries and COVID-19 incidence of cases and deaths in different variant periods

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation between the incidence case/ death rate of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and some variables of the countries. Methods: This research is an Ecological study. We analyzed the association of COVID‐19 incidence of cases/deaths with population rates over 65, Gini index, GDP per capita (current US$), burden of disease (DALYs-2019), literacy rate of over 15 years old, Coefficient of Variation (CV) of caloric intake, prevalence of obesity among adults, total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people, and total tests conducted (per 1M). Furthermore, we analyzed the data on COVID-19 incidence of cases/death in the cross-sectionally for three periods: Alpha-Beta-Gamma, Delta and Omicron periods. Spearman correlation test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Positive correlations were found in COVID-19 cumulative incidence of cases/deaths (per 1M), and population rates over 65, GDP (per capita), lliteracy rate of individuals over 15 years old, prevalence of obesity among adults, and total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100 people. On the other hand, negative correlations were found with DALYs, Coefficient of Variation (CV) of caloric intake and Gini index. When the variant periods of COVID-19 were examined respectively (Alpha-Beta-Gamma, Delta and Omicron), the positive correlations and the negative correlations were further increased during the Omicron period. Conclusion: It is recommended to consider the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the countries, as well as the characteristics of the disease agent, for the prevention and control of potential future pandemics.