Inequality indices to monitor geographic differences in incidence, mortality and fatality rates over time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It is of interest to explore the variability in how the COVID-19 pandemic evolved geographically during the first twelve months. To this end, we apply inequality indices over regions to incidences, infection related mortality, and infection fatality rates. If avoiding of inequality in health is an important political goal, a metric must be implemented to track geographical inequality over time.

Methods

The relative and absolute Gini index as well as the Theil index are used to quantify inequality. Data are taken from international data bases. Absolute counts are transformed to rates adjusted for population size.

Results

Comparing continents, the absolute Gini index shows an unfavorable development in four continents since February 2020. In contrast, the rel

SUBMITTER: Manz KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8118350 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature