This study aimed to analyze the effect of sociodemographic characteristics on COVID-19 in-hospital mortality in Ecuador from March 1 to December 31, 2020. This retrospective longitudinal study was performed with data from publicly accessible registries of the Ecuadorian National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC). Data underwent a competing risk analysis with estimates of the cumulative incidence function (CIF). The effect of covariates on CIFs was estimated using the Fine-Gray model and results were expressed as adjusted subdistribution hazard ratios (SHR). The analysis included 30,991 confirmed COVID-19 patients with a mean age of 56.57±18.53 years; 60.7% (n = 18,816) were men and 39.3% (n = 12,175) were women. Being of advanced age, especially older than or equal to 75 years (SHR = 17.97; 95%CI: 13.08-24.69), being a man (SHR = 1.29; 95%CI: 1.22-1.36), living in rural areas (SHR = 1.18; 95%CI: 1.10-1.26), and receiving care in a public health center (SHR = 1.64; 95%CI: 1.51-1.78) were factors that increased the incidence of death from COVID-19, while living at an elevation higher than 2,500 meters above sea level (SHR = 0.69; 95%CI: 0.66-0.73) decreased this incidence. Since the incidence of death for individuals living in rural areas and who received medical care from the public sector was higher, income and poverty are important factors in the final outcome of this disease.
The current outbreak of SARS-Cov-2, a virus responsible for COVID-19, has infected millions and caused a soaring death toll worldwide. Vaccination represents a powerful tool in our fight against the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Ecuador is one of the Latin American countries most impacted by COVID-19. Despite free COVID-19 vaccines, Ecuadorians still hesitate to get vaccinated. A multivariate binary logistic regression was used to analyze data from the Ecuadorian National Institute of Statistics and Censuses. This study investigated socio-demographics, economic, and individual reasons associated with a person having “no intention” to receive COVID-19 vaccine across the study period of October 2021 to March 2022. The survey revealed an increase of unvaccinated people having no intention of COVID-19 vaccination from 57.4% (October-December 2021) to 72.9% (January-March 2022). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was dependent on factors like sex, age and ethnicity. Socio-economic characteristics and education level were not found to be statistically significant in lack of vaccine intention, but most vaccination hesitancy was due to distrust in the COVID-19 vaccine. People who believed that the vaccine could be unsafe because of possible side effects represented half of the surveyed participants, a proportion that barely diminished during the progress of the vaccination campaign across October-December 2021 (57.04%) and January-March 2022 (49.59%) periods. People who did not believe that the vaccine was effective enough increased from 11.47 to 18.46%. Misbeliefs about effectiveness and safety of vaccines should be considered in the implementation of public health initiatives of communication, education and intervention to improve vaccination campaigns. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10900-023-01188-7.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.