Why were some countries more successful than others in curbing early COVID-19 mortality impact? A cross-country configurational analysis.

ABSTRACT: Why was there considerable variation in initial COVID-19 mortality impact across countries? Through a configurational lens, this paper examines which configurations of five conditions-a delayed public-health response, past epidemic experience, proportion of elderly in population, population density, and national income per capita-influence early COVID-19 mortality impact measured by years of life lost (YLL). A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of 80 countries identifies four distinctive pathways associated with high YLL rate and four other different pathways leading to low YLL rate. Results suggest that there is no singular "playbook"-a set of policies that countries can follow. Some countries failed differently, whereas others succeeded differently. Countries should take

SUBMITTER: Chen B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9994757 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature