The COVID-19 Mortality Rate Is Associated with Illiteracy, Age, and Air Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods: A Spatiotemporal Cross-Sectional Analysis
There are different area-based factors affecting the COVID-19 mortality rate in urban areas. This research aims to examine COVID-19 mortality rates and their geographical association with various socioeconomic and ecological determinants in 350 of Tehran’s neighborhoods as a big city. All deaths rel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/8/2/85 |
| _version_ | 1797617959466696704 |
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| author | Alireza Mohammadi Elahe Pishgar Munazza Fatima Aynaz Lotfata Zohreh Fanni Robert Bergquist Behzad Kiani |
| author_facet | Alireza Mohammadi Elahe Pishgar Munazza Fatima Aynaz Lotfata Zohreh Fanni Robert Bergquist Behzad Kiani |
| author_sort | Alireza Mohammadi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There are different area-based factors affecting the COVID-19 mortality rate in urban areas. This research aims to examine COVID-19 mortality rates and their geographical association with various socioeconomic and ecological determinants in 350 of Tehran’s neighborhoods as a big city. All deaths related to COVID-19 are included from December 2019 to July 2021. Spatial techniques, such as Kulldorff’s SatScan, geographically weighted regression (GWR), and multi-scale GWR (MGWR), were used to investigate the spatially varying correlations between COVID-19 mortality rates and predictors, including air pollutant factors, socioeconomic status, built environment factors, and public transportation infrastructure. The city’s downtown and northern areas were found to be significantly clustered in terms of spatial and temporal high-risk areas for COVID-19 mortality. The MGWR regression model outperformed the OLS and GWR regression models with an adjusted R<sup>2</sup> of 0.67. Furthermore, the mortality rate was found to be associated with air quality (e.g., NO<sub>2</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>, and O<sub>3</sub>); as air pollution increased, so did mortality. Additionally, the aging and illiteracy rates of urban neighborhoods were positively associated with COVID-19 mortality rates. Our approach in this study could be implemented to study potential associations of area-based factors with other emerging infectious diseases worldwide. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:03:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f1b2ec3ebdcf45c3ac2f9a1c7a197d38 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2414-6366 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:03:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease |
| spelling | doaj.art-f1b2ec3ebdcf45c3ac2f9a1c7a197d382023-11-16T23:39:43ZengMDPI AGTropical Medicine and Infectious Disease2414-63662023-01-01828510.3390/tropicalmed8020085The COVID-19 Mortality Rate Is Associated with Illiteracy, Age, and Air Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods: A Spatiotemporal Cross-Sectional AnalysisAlireza Mohammadi0Elahe Pishgar1Munazza Fatima2Aynaz Lotfata3Zohreh Fanni4Robert Bergquist5Behzad Kiani6Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil 56199-11367, IranDepartment of Human Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 19839-69411, IranDepartment of Geography, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, PakistanGeography Department, Chicago State University, Chicago, IL 60628-1598, USADepartment of Human Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 19839-69411, IranIngerod, SE-454 94 Brastad, SwedenCentre de Recherche en Santé Publique, Université de Montréal, 7101, Avenue du Parc, Montreal, QC H3N 1X9, CanadaThere are different area-based factors affecting the COVID-19 mortality rate in urban areas. This research aims to examine COVID-19 mortality rates and their geographical association with various socioeconomic and ecological determinants in 350 of Tehran’s neighborhoods as a big city. All deaths related to COVID-19 are included from December 2019 to July 2021. Spatial techniques, such as Kulldorff’s SatScan, geographically weighted regression (GWR), and multi-scale GWR (MGWR), were used to investigate the spatially varying correlations between COVID-19 mortality rates and predictors, including air pollutant factors, socioeconomic status, built environment factors, and public transportation infrastructure. The city’s downtown and northern areas were found to be significantly clustered in terms of spatial and temporal high-risk areas for COVID-19 mortality. The MGWR regression model outperformed the OLS and GWR regression models with an adjusted R<sup>2</sup> of 0.67. Furthermore, the mortality rate was found to be associated with air quality (e.g., NO<sub>2</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>, and O<sub>3</sub>); as air pollution increased, so did mortality. Additionally, the aging and illiteracy rates of urban neighborhoods were positively associated with COVID-19 mortality rates. Our approach in this study could be implemented to study potential associations of area-based factors with other emerging infectious diseases worldwide.https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/8/2/85spatiotemporal analysissocio-economicdeterminantsair qualityCOVID-19 mortalityair pollution |
| spellingShingle | Alireza Mohammadi Elahe Pishgar Munazza Fatima Aynaz Lotfata Zohreh Fanni Robert Bergquist Behzad Kiani The COVID-19 Mortality Rate Is Associated with Illiteracy, Age, and Air Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods: A Spatiotemporal Cross-Sectional Analysis Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease spatiotemporal analysis socio-economic determinants air quality COVID-19 mortality air pollution |
| title | The COVID-19 Mortality Rate Is Associated with Illiteracy, Age, and Air Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods: A Spatiotemporal Cross-Sectional Analysis |
| title_full | The COVID-19 Mortality Rate Is Associated with Illiteracy, Age, and Air Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods: A Spatiotemporal Cross-Sectional Analysis |
| title_fullStr | The COVID-19 Mortality Rate Is Associated with Illiteracy, Age, and Air Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods: A Spatiotemporal Cross-Sectional Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The COVID-19 Mortality Rate Is Associated with Illiteracy, Age, and Air Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods: A Spatiotemporal Cross-Sectional Analysis |
| title_short | The COVID-19 Mortality Rate Is Associated with Illiteracy, Age, and Air Pollution in Urban Neighborhoods: A Spatiotemporal Cross-Sectional Analysis |
| title_sort | covid 19 mortality rate is associated with illiteracy age and air pollution in urban neighborhoods a spatiotemporal cross sectional analysis |
| topic | spatiotemporal analysis socio-economic determinants air quality COVID-19 mortality air pollution |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/8/2/85 |
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