Household crowding and mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among adults: Findings from longitudinal population surveillance data in rural and peri-urban settings in Limpopo, South Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Household overcrowding is a public health concern linked to increased morbidity and mortality. There is limited data available on the effects of COVID-19 on age-specific mortality in the context of household crowding in rural and peri-urban settings in Africa. Here we assess age-specific excess mortality in densely inhabited households before and during COVID-19.

Methods

We used data collected three times annually between 2019 and 2021 in the health and demographic surveillance project in DIMAMO, South Africa. Data inaccuracies or inconsistencies were identified and corrected using data validation rules or algorithms implemented at both application and database levels. The number of persons-per-room was used to determine the degree of crowding or household crowdin

SUBMITTER: Seakamela KP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12573891 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature