Methods Used in the Spatial and Spatiotemporal Analysis of COVID-19 Epidemiology: A Systematic Review
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SUBMITTER: Nazia N
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9324591 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) transmission often occurs within a household or community, leading to heterogeneous spatial patterns. However, apparent spatial clustering of TB could reflect ongoing transmission or co-location of risk factors and can vary considerably depending on the type of data available, the analysis methods employed and the dynamics of the underlying population. Thus, we aimed to review methodological approaches used in the spatial analysis of TB burden.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search of spatial studies of TB published in English using Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Scopus and Web of Science databases with no date restriction from inception to 15 February 2017. The protocol for this systematic review was prospectively registered with PROSPERO ( CRD42016036655 ).ResultsWe identified 168 eligible studies with spatial methods used to describe the spatial distribution (n?=?154), spatial clusters (n?=?73), predictors of spatial patterns (n?=?64), the role of congregate settings (n?=?3) and the household (n?=?2) on TB transmission. Molecular techniques combined with geospatial methods were used by 25 studies to compare the role of transmission to reactivation as a driver of TB spatial distribution, finding that geospatial hotspots are not necessarily areas of recent transmission. Almost all studies used notification data for spatial analysis (161 of 168), although none accounted for undetected cases. The most common data visualisation technique was notification rate mapping, and the use of smoothing techniques was uncommon. Spatial clusters were identified using a range of methods, with the most commonly employed being Kulldorff's spatial scan statistic followed by local Moran's I and Getis and Ord's local Gi(d) tests. In the 11 papers that compared two such methods using a single dataset, the clustering patterns identified were often inconsistent. Classical regression models that did not account for spatial dependence were commonly used to predict spatial TB risk. In all included studies, TB showed a heterogeneous spatial pattern at each geographic resolution level examined.ConclusionsA range of spatial analysis methodologies has been employed in divergent contexts, with all studies demonstrating significant heterogeneity in spatial TB distribution. Future studies are needed to define the optimal method for each context and should account for unreported cases when using notification data where possible. Future studies combining genotypic and geospatial techniques with epidemiologically linked cases have the potential to provide further insights and improve TB control.
| S-EPMC6193308 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of the global general population regarding COVID-19.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsMEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO were used to identify articles published between 1 January and 30 June 2021 assessing KAP regarding COVID-19 in the global general population. The quality of eligible studies was assessed. Random effects model was used to obtain the pooled proportion of each component of KAP of COVID-19. Heterogeneity (I2) was tested, and subgroup and correlation analyses were performed.ResultsOut of 3099 records, 84 studies from 45 countries across all continents assessing 215 731 participants' COVID-19 KAP were included in this study. The estimated overall correct answers for knowledge, good attitude and good practice in this review were 75% (95% CI 72% to 77%), 74% (95% CI 71% to 77%) and 70% (95% CI 66% to 74%), respectively. Low-income countries, men, people aged below 30 years and people with 12 years of education or less had the lowest practice scores. Practice scores were below 60% in Africa and Europe/Oceania. Overall heterogeneity was high (I2 ≥98%), and publication bias was present (Egger's regression test, p<0.01). A positive significant correlation between knowledge and practice (r=0.314, p=0.006), and attitude and practice (r=0.348, p=0.004) was observed.ConclusionsThis study's findings call for community-based awareness programmes to provide a simple, clear and understandable message to reinforce knowledge especially regarding efficacy of the preventive measures in low and lower middle-income countries, and in Africa and Europe/Oceania, which will translate into good practice. Targeted intervention for men, people with low education, unemployed people and people aged below 30 years should be recommended. As most of the included studies were online surveys, underprivileged and remote rural people may have been missed out. Additional studies are needed to cover heterogeneous populations.Prospero registration numberCRD42020203476.
| S-EPMC8441223 | biostudies-literature
Project description:As the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread rapidly across the globe, we aimed to identify and summarize the existing evidence on epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and the effectiveness of control measures to inform policymakers and leaders in formulating management guidelines, and to provide directions for future research. We conducted a systematic review of the published literature and preprints on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak following predefined eligibility criteria. Of 317 research articles generated from our initial search on PubMed and preprint archives on 21 February 2020, 41 met our inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Current evidence suggests that it takes about 3-7 days for the epidemic to double in size. Of 21 estimates for the basic reproduction number ranging from 1.9 to 6.5, 13 were between 2.0 and 3.0. The incubation period was estimated to be 4-6 days, whereas the serial interval was estimated to be 4-8 days. Though the true case fatality risk is yet unknown, current model-based estimates ranged from 0.3% to 1.4% for outside China. There is an urgent need for rigorous research focusing on the mitigation efforts to minimize the impact on society.
| S-EPMC7231098 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Understanding the impact of place on health is a key element of epidemiologic investigation, and numerous tools are being employed for analysis of spatial health-related data. This review documents the huge growth in spatial epidemiology, summarizes the tools that have been employed, and provides in-depth discussion of several methods. Relevant research articles for 2000-2010 from seven epidemiology journals were included if the study utilized a spatial analysis method in primary analysis (n = 207). Results summarized frequency of spatial methods and substantive focus; graphs explored trends over time. The most common spatial methods were distance calculations, spatial aggregation, clustering, spatial smoothing and interpolation, and spatial regression. Proximity measures were predominant and were applied primarily to air quality and climate science and resource access studies. The review concludes by noting emerging areas that are likely to be important to future spatial analysis in public health.
| S-EPMC3638991 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Spatial analysis of COVID-19 vaccination research is increasing in recent literature due to the availability of COVID-19 vaccination data that usually contain location components. However, to our knowledge, no previous study has provided a comprehensive review of this research area. Therefore, in this scoping review, we examined the breadth of spatial and spatiotemporal vaccination studies to summarize previous findings, highlight research gaps, and provide guidelines for future research. We performed this review according to the five-stage methodological framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley. We screened all articles published in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, as of 21 September 2021, that had employed at least one form of spatial analysis of COVID-19 vaccination. In total, 36 articles met the inclusion criteria and were organized into four main themes: disease surveillance (n = 35); risk analysis (n = 14); health access (n = 16); and community health profiling (n = 2). Our findings suggested that most studies utilized preliminary spatial analysis techniques, such as disease mapping, which might not lead to robust inferences. Moreover, few studies addressed data quality, modifiable areal unit problems, and spatial dependence, highlighting the need for more sophisticated spatial and spatiotemporal analysis techniques.
| S-EPMC8624385 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionEmerging evidence suggests young children are at greater risk of COVID-19 infection than initially predicted. However, a comprehensive understanding of epidemiology of COVID-19 infection in young children under five years, the most at-risk age-group for respiratory infections, remain unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 infection in children under five years.MethodFollowing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses , we searched several electronic databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus) with no language restriction for published epidemiological studies and case-reports reporting laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection in children under five years until June 4, 2020. We assessed pooled prevalence for key demographics and clinical characteristics using Freeman-Tukey double arcsine random-effects model for studies except case-reports. We evaluated risk of bias separately for case-reports and other studies.ResultsWe identified 1,964 articles, of which, 65 articles were eligible for systematic review that represented 1,214 children younger than five years with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection. The pooled estimates showed that 50% young COVID-19 cases were infants (95% CI: 36% - 63%, 27 studies); 53% were male (95% CI: 41% - 65%, 24 studies); 43% were asymptomatic (95% CI: 15% - 73%, 9 studies) and 7% (95% CI: 0% - 30%, 5 studies) had severe disease that required intensive-care-unit admission. Of 139 newborns from COVID-19 infected mothers, five (3.6%) were COVID-19 positive. There was only one death recorded.DiscussionThis systematic review reports the largest number of children younger than five years with COVID-19 infection till date. Our meta-analysis shows nearly half of young COVID-19 cases were asymptomatic and half were infants, highlighting the need for ongoing surveillance to better understand the epidemiology, clinical pattern, and transmission of COVID-19 to develop effective preventive strategies against COVID-19 disease in young paediatric population.
| S-EPMC7833125 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic, but its reported characteristics and outcomes vary greatly amongst studies. We determined pooled estimates for clinical characteristics and outcomes in COVID-19 patients including subgroups by disease severity (based on World Health Organization Interim Guidance Report or Infectious Disease Society of America/American Thoracic Society criteria) and by country/region. We searched Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane, Chinese Medical Journal, and preprint databases from 1 January 2020 to 6 April 2020. Studies of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients with relevant data were included. Two reviewers independently performed study selection and data extraction. From 6007 articles, 212 studies from 11 countries/regions involving 281 461 individuals were analyzed. Overall, mean age was 46.7 years, 51.8% were male, 22.9% had severe disease, and mortality was 5.6%. Underlying immunosuppression, diabetes, and malignancy were most strongly associated with severe COVID-19 (coefficient = 53.9, 23.4, 23.4, respectively, all P < .0007), while older age, male gender, diabetes, and hypertension were also associated with higher mortality (coefficient = 0.05 per year, 5.1, 8.2, 6.99, respectively; P = .006-.0002). Gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain) and respiratory symptoms (shortness of breath, chest pain) were associated with severe COVID-19, while pneumonia and end-organ failure were associated with mortality. COVID-19 is associated with a severe disease course in about 23% and mortality in about 6% of infected persons. Individuals with comorbidities and clinical features associated with severity should be monitored closely, and preventive efforts should especially target those with diabetes, malignancy, and immunosuppression.
| S-EPMC7436673 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Timely monitoring of incidence risks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and associated deaths at small-area level is essential to inform containment strategies. We analysed the spatiotemporal epidemiology of the SARSCoV- 2 pandemic at district level in Germany to develop a tool for disease monitoring. We used a Bayesian spatiotemporal model to estimate the district-specific risk ratios (RR) of SARS-CoV-2 incidence and the posterior probability (PP) for exceedance of RR thresholds 1, 2 or 3. Of 220 districts (55% of 401 districts) showing a RR > 1, 188 (47%) exceed the RR threshold with sufficient certainty (PP ≥ 80%) to be considered at high risk. 47 districts show very high (RR > 2, PP ≥ 80%) and 15 extremely high (RR > 3, PP ≥ 80%) risks. The spatial approach for monitoring the risk of SARS-CoV-2 provides an informative basis for local policy planning.
| S-EPMC8139365 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a zoonotic infection, is responsible for COVID-19 pandemic and also is known as a public health concern. However, so far, the origin of the causative virus and its intermediate hosts is yet to be fully determined. SARS-CoV-2 contains nearly 30,000 letters of RNA that allows the virus to infect cells and hijack them to make new viruses. On the other hand, among 14 detected mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 S protein that provide advantages to virus for transmission and evasion form treatment, the D614G mutation (substitution of aspartic acid [D] with glycine [G] in codon 614 was particular which could provide the facilitation of the transmission of the virus and virulence. To date, in contrary to the global effort to come up with various aspects of SARS-CoV-2, there are still great pitfalls in the knowledge of this disease and many angles remain unclear. That's why, the monitoring and periodical investigation of this emerging infection in an epidemiological study seems to be essential. The present study characterizes the current epidemiological status (i.e., possible transmission route, mortality and morbidity risk, emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, and clinical feature) of the SARS-CoV-2 in the world during these pandemic.
| S-EPMC8548902 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundCOVID-19 outbreaks in aged care facilities (ACFs) often have devastating consequences. However, epidemiologically these outbreaks are not well defined. We aimed to define such outbreaks in ACFs by systematically reviewing literature published during the current COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe searched 11 bibliographic databases for literature published on COVID-19 in ACFs between December 2019 and September 2020. Original studies reporting extractable epidemiological data as part of outbreak investigations or non-outbreak surveillance of ACFs were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. PROSPERO registration: CRD42020211424.FindingsWe identified 5,148 publications and selected 49 studies from four continents reporting data on 214,380 residents in 8,502 ACFs with 25,567 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Aged care residents form a distinct vulnerable population with single-facility attack rates of 45% [95% CI 32-58%] and case fatality rates of 23% [95% CI 18-28%]. Of the cases, 31% [95% CI 28-34%] were asymptomatic. The rate of hospitalization amongst residents was 37% [95% CI 35-39%]. Data from 21 outbreaks identified a resident as the index case in 58% of outbreaks and a staff member in 42%. Findings from the included studies were heterogeneous and of low to moderate quality in risk of bias assessment.InterpretationThe clinical presentation of COVID-19 varies widely in ACFs residents, from asymptomatic to highly serious cases. Preventing the introduction of COVID-19 into ACFs is key, and both residents and staff are a priority group for COVID-19 vaccination. Rapid diagnosis, identification of primary and secondary cases and close contacts plus their isolation and quarantine are of paramount importance.FundingQueensland Advancing Clinical Research Fellowship awarded to Prof. Gulam Khandaker by Queensland Health's Health Innovation, Investment and Research Office (HIRO), Office of the Director-General.
| S-EPMC7917447 | biostudies-literature