International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Research

17 pages, 406 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determinants of Out-of-Pocket Health Spending in Households in Peru in the Times of the Pandemic (COVID-19)

by Julio Cesar Quispe Mamani, Balbina Esperanza Cutipa Quilca, Rolando Cáceres Quenta, Nelly Beatriz Quispe Maquera, Betsy Quispe Quispe, Adderly Mamani Flores, Duverly Joao Incacutipa Limachi, Angela Rosario Esteves Villanueva, Vicente Málaga Apaza and Olimpia Tintaya Choquehuanca

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(18), 6759; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186759 - 14 Sep 2023

Viewed by 1250

Abstract

In 2021, the expenses paid by households worldwide due to COVID-19 showed an increasing behavior and directly affected economic income since they were part of unforeseen expenses among households and became a factor that contributed to the increase in the levels of poverty [...] Read more.

In 2021, the expenses paid by households worldwide due to COVID-19 showed an increasing behavior and directly affected economic income since they were part of unforeseen expenses among households and became a factor that contributed to the increase in the levels of poverty mainly in households that were not part of the health system. The objective of this research was to establish the main determinants of out-of-pocket spending on health in Peruvian households in the times of the pandemic. A quantitative approach, of a nonexperimental type, with a descriptive and correlational methodological design was considered. The database of the National Household Survey of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics for 2021 was used as a source of information, applying the binomial logit econometric model. Out-of-pocket expenses during the pandemic compared to normal periods were shared by the members of the households. Since they were part of unforeseen expenses, these expenses mainly impacted the heads of the households and strongly affected household budgets. For this reason, the type of insurance, the suffering of household members from a disease, the results of tests for COVID-19, the expenditure on individual health, the existence of permanent limitations to any member of the household, the presence of an older adult in the household, and the marital status of the head of the household determined and positively influenced out-of-pocket spending in households in Peru with 36.85, 8.48, 6.50, 0.0065, 23.73, 16.79, and 2.44 percentage units. However, the existence of a drinking water service in the household, educational level, and the area of residence determined and negatively influenced out-of-pocket spending in households in Peru with 4.81, 6.75, and 19.26 percentage units, respectively. The type of insurance, the suffering of an individual from a disease, the results of COVID-19 tests, health spending, the existence of permanent limitations, the presence of an older adult in the household, and the marital status of the head of the household positively determined out-of-pocket spending in households in Peru, while the existence of a potable water service, educational level, and the area of residence determined out-of-pocket expenses in a negative or indirect way. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

17 pages, 742 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multivariate Pharma Technology Transfer Analysis: Civilization Diseases and COVID-19 Perspective

by Karol Śledzik, Renata Płoska, Mariusz Chmielewski, Adam Barembruch, Agnieszka Szmelter-Jarosz, Angelika Kędzierska-Szczepaniak and Paweł Antonowicz

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(3), 1954; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031954 - 20 Jan 2023

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Abstract

The importance of studying civilization diseases manifests itself in the impact of changing lifestyles, on the number of deaths and causes of death. Technology transfer plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of these diseases. Through this, it is possible to [...] Read more.

The importance of studying civilization diseases manifests itself in the impact of changing lifestyles, on the number of deaths and causes of death. Technology transfer plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of these diseases. Through this, it is possible to transfer new treatments and diagnostics to clinics and hospitals more quickly and effectively, which leads to better healthcare for patients. Technology transfer can also aid in the development of new drugs and therapies that can be effective in the treatment of civilization diseases. The paper aims to evaluate the technology transfer process in the field of civilization diseases, using COVID-19 as an example of a pandemic that requires quick development and transfer of technology. To achieve the assumed goal, we propose a multivariate synthetic ratio in the field of civilization diseases (SMTT—Synthetic Measure of Technology Transfer) to analyze data from the Global Data database. We used sub-measures like SMTT_value (Synthetic Measure of Technology Transfer_value) and SMTT_quantity (Synthetic Measure of Technology Transfer_quantity) to measure technology transfer and put the data into a graph. Our analysis focuses on 14 diseases over a period of 10 years (2012–2021) and includes nine forms of technology transfer, allowing us to create a tool for analysing the process in multiple dimensions. Our results show that COVID-19 is similar in terms of technology transfer to diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and breast cancer, even though data for COVID-19 is available for only 2 years. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

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10 pages, 364 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Multicenter Study about the Population Treated in the Respiratory Triage Stations Deployed by the Red Cross during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by José Antonio Ponce-Blandón, Rocío Romero-Castillo, Leyre Rodríguez-Leal, Raquel González-Hervías, Juan Francisco Velarde-García and Beatriz Álvarez-Embarba

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 313; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010313 - 25 Dec 2022

Viewed by 1537

Abstract

Background: Care demand exceeded the availability of human and material resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the reason why triage was fundamental. The objective is to know the clinical and sociodemographic factors of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases in triage stations from [...] Read more.

Background: Care demand exceeded the availability of human and material resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the reason why triage was fundamental. The objective is to know the clinical and sociodemographic factors of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases in triage stations from different Ecuadorian provinces. Method: A multicenter study with a retrospective and descriptive design. The patients included were those who accessed the Respiratory Triage stations deployed by the Ecuadorian Red Cross in eight Ecuadorian provinces during March and April 2021. Triage allows for selecting patients that need urgent treatment and favors efficacy of health resources. Results: The study population consisted of a total of 21,120 patients, of which 43.1% were men and 56.9% were women, with an age range between 0 and 98 years old. Severity of COVID-19 behaved differently according to gender, with mild symptoms predominating in women and severe or critical symptoms in men. Higher incidence of critical cases was observed in patients over 65 years old. It was observed that overweight predominated in critical, severe, and moderate cases, while the body mass index of patients with mild symptoms was within the normal range. Conclusions: The Ecuadorian Red Cross units identified some suspected COVID-19 cases, facilitating their follow-up and isolation. Fever was the most significant early finding. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

10 pages, 1005 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impacts of COVID-19 Prevention and Control Measures on Asthma-Related Hospital and Outpatient Visits in Yichang, China

by Jinyi Wang, Dapeng Yin, Guoxing Li, Tianqi Wang, Yanli Zhang, Hui Gan and Jinfang Sun

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13572; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013572 - 20 Oct 2022

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Abstract

This article investigates the impact of COVID-19 lockdown and regular epidemic prevention and control after lifting lockdown on asthma-related hospital and outpatient visits in Yichang. Data on the general outpatient department (GOPD), emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) visits for asthma [...] Read more.

This article investigates the impact of COVID-19 lockdown and regular epidemic prevention and control after lifting lockdown on asthma-related hospital and outpatient visits in Yichang. Data on the general outpatient department (GOPD), emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) visits for asthma from 15 November 2019 to 21 May 2020 and the corresponding from 2018 to 2019 were collected from eight tertiary hospitals in municipal districts. The controlled interrupted time series (CITS) analysis was used to investigate the level and long-term trend changes of weekly asthma visits during lockdown and regular epidemic prevention and control, and stratified by type of visits and age. A total of 9347 asthma-related hospital and outpatient visits were analyzed. The CITS showed that after the implementation of lockdown, the weekly visits of asthma patients immediately decreased by 127.32 (p = 0.002), and the level of GOPD and ED/ICU visits immediately decreased significantly. After implementation of regular prevention, the level and trend of overall weekly visits changed insignificantly compared with the lockdown period. The weekly visits of GOPD adults immediately increased by 51.46 (p < 0.001), and the trend of ED/ICU adults decreased by 5.06 (p = 0.003) visits per week compared with lockdown period. The COVID-19 lockdown in Yichang was related to the decrease in hospital and outpatient visits for asthma. After the implementation of subsequent regular prevention and control measure, only the GOPD visits of adults increased compared with lockdown period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

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10 pages, 977 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in Otorhinolaryngologic Disease Incidences before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Korea

by So Young Kim, Dae Myoung Yoo, Ji Hee Kim, Mi Jung Kwon, Joo-Hee Kim, Juyong Chung and Hyo Geun Choi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13083; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013083 - 12 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1187

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the change in the incidence and variance of otorhinolaryngologic diseases during the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The entire Korean population (~50 million) was evaluated for the monthly incidence of 11 common otorhinolaryngologic diseases of upper respiratory infection [...] Read more.

This study aimed to investigate the change in the incidence and variance of otorhinolaryngologic diseases during the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The entire Korean population (~50 million) was evaluated for the monthly incidence of 11 common otorhinolaryngologic diseases of upper respiratory infection (URI), influenza, acute tonsillitis, peritonsillar abscess, retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess, acute laryngitis and bronchitis, stomatitis and related lesions, acute sinusitis, rhinitis, otitis media, and dizziness from January 2018 through March 2021 using the International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 codes with the data of the Korea National Health Insurance Service. The differences in the mean incidence of 11 common otorhinolaryngologic diseases before and during COVID-19 were compared using the Mann—Whitney U test. The differences in the variance of incidence before and during COVID-19 were compared using Levene’s test. The incidence of all 11 otorhinolaryngologic diseases was lower during COVID-19 than before COVID-19 (all p < 0.05). The variations in disease incidence by season were lower during COVID-19 than before COVID-19 for infectious diseases, including URI, influenza, acute tonsillitis, peritonsillar abscess, retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal abscess, acute laryngitis and bronchitis, acute sinusitis, and otitis media (all p < 0.05), while it was not in noninfectious diseases, including stomatitis, rhinitis, and dizziness. As expected, the incidences of all otorhinolalryngolgic diseases were decreased. Additionally, we found that seasonal variations in infectious diseases disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, while noninfectious diseases did not. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

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18 pages, 1010 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How German and Italian Laypeople Reason about Distributive Shortages during COVID-19

by Ronja Demel, Francesco Grassi, Yasaman Rafiee, Michael R. Waldmann and Annekathrin Schacht

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12067; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912067 - 23 Sep 2022

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Abstract

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to investigate how moral reasoning is influenced by individuals’ exposure to a crisis and by personal, societal and temporal proximity. We examined how Italians and Germans judged different behaviors that arose because of the [...] Read more.

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to investigate how moral reasoning is influenced by individuals’ exposure to a crisis and by personal, societal and temporal proximity. We examined how Italians and Germans judged different behaviors that arose because of the pandemic, which affected health and societal matters. (2) Methods: Over the course of four months and three assessment periods, we used an observational online survey to assess participants’ judgments regarding seven scenarios that addressed distributive shortages during the pandemic. (3) Results: Overall, there was no clear answering pattern across all scenarios. For a variation of triage and pandemic restrictions, most participants selected a mean value, which can be interpreted as deferring the choice. For the other scenarios, most participants used the extremes of the scale, thereby reflecting a clear opinion of the public regarding the moral issue. In addition, moral reasoning varied across the two countries, assessment periods, fear, and age. (4) Conclusions: By using scenarios that were taken from real-life experiences, the current study addresses criticism that moral research mostly relies on unrealistic scenarios that lack in external validity, plausibility, and proximity to everyday situations. In addition, it shows how lay people regard measures of public health and societal decision-making. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

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8 pages, 312 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of the COVID-19 and Socioeconomic Status on Access to Care for Otorhinolaryngology Patients

by Minju Kim, Jin-A Park, Hyunkyung Cha, Woo Hyun Lee, Seung-No Hong and Dae Woo Kim

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 11875; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911875 - 20 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1326

Abstract

Since December 2019, COVID-19 has greatly influenced public healthcare systems around the globe in various aspects, including limitation of healthcare accessibility due to lack of both human and financial resources, suspension of clinics, and fear of infection causing healthcare avoidance. The aim of [...] Read more.

Since December 2019, COVID-19 has greatly influenced public healthcare systems around the globe in various aspects, including limitation of healthcare accessibility due to lack of both human and financial resources, suspension of clinics, and fear of infection causing healthcare avoidance. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on access to healthcare for otorhinolaryngology patients from different socioeconomic status (SES) groups. Otorhinolaryngology patients’ disease severity status, diagnosed at the first hospital visit, was investigated during the pre -and post-COVID-19 pandemic era in a single medical center located in Seoul, Korea. An ordinal regression model was used to assess the impact of both SES and the COVID-19 pandemic on otorhinolaryngology diseases. Within the chronic rhinosinusitis group, lower SES was associated with a higher disease severity at the first visit compared to higher SES (OR = 3.25). During the COVID-19 pandemic, while the total number of outpatients was reduced, the severity of these ENT diseases seemed to increase compared to the pre-pandemic severity in every SES group. Our study demonstrates the negative impact a worldwide pandemic can have on healthcare inequity and disease severity, and highlights the importance of re-allocating fundamental resources for those in need during periods of public health crisis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

12 pages, 355 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Personal Care and Household Cleaning Product Use among Pregnant Women and New Mothers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Andrea L. Deierlein, Alexis R. Grayon, Xiaotong Zhu, Yanwen Sun, Xun Liu, Kaelyn Kohlasch and Cheryl R. Stein

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5645; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095645 - 06 May 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3195

Abstract

This study examined product use among pregnant women and new mothers in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic (July 2020–June 2021). Women reported use of personal care and household cleaning products within the previous month, changes in antibacterial product use, receipt of [...] Read more.

This study examined product use among pregnant women and new mothers in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic (July 2020–June 2021). Women reported use of personal care and household cleaning products within the previous month, changes in antibacterial product use, receipt of healthcare provider advice, and opinions on environmental chemicals (n = 320). On average, women used 15 personal care products and 7 household cleaning products. Non-Hispanic Black women used nearly two more personal care products; non-Hispanic Black women, those with a college degree, and essential workers used 1–3 more household cleaning products. Women who were Hispanic or reported their race and ethnicity as Other were two times more likely to use antibacterial personal care products. Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and women who reported their race and ethnicity as Other were 1.5 times more likely to increase antibacterial product use during the pandemic. Nearly all women agreed that environmental chemicals pose health risks and are impossible to avoid, while less than one quarter received advice regarding product use. Product use is a modifiable source of chemical exposures. Results from this study suggest that women may have increased their product use during the pandemic. Healthcare providers may use the current focus on health hygiene to promote discussion and assessment of environmental chemical exposures with patients. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue 2nd Edition of Environmental, Health and Economic Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

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