Community Risk Factors in the COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality in Catalonia (Spain). A Population-Based Study

Quim Zaldo-Aubanell, Ferran Campillo i López, Albert Bach, Isabel Serra, Joan Olivet-Vila, Marc Saez, David Pino and Roser Maneja
Additional contact information
Quim Zaldo-Aubanell: Environment and Human Health Laboratory (EH2 Lab), Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia, Ctra. de St. Llorenç de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain
Ferran Campillo i López: Environment and Human Health Laboratory (EH2 Lab), Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia, Ctra. de St. Llorenç de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain
Albert Bach: Environment and Human Health Laboratory (EH2 Lab), Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia, Ctra. de St. Llorenç de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain
Isabel Serra: Centre de Recerca Matemàtica, Edifici C, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
Joan Olivet-Vila: Health Promotion Service in Girona, Agency of Public Health of Catalonia, Generalitat of Catalonia, 17003 Girona, Spain
Marc Saez: Research Group on Statistics, Econometrics and Health (GRECS), University of Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain
David Pino: Departament of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech, Esteve Terrades 5, 08034 Castelldefels, Spain
Roser Maneja: Environment and Human Health Laboratory (EH2 Lab), Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia, Ctra. de St. Llorenç de Morunys, km 2, 25280 Solsona, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-20

Abstract: The heterogenous distribution of both COVID-19 incidence and mortality in Catalonia (Spain) during the firsts moths of the pandemic suggests that differences in baseline risk factors across regions might play a relevant role in modulating the outcome of the pandemic. This paper investigates the associations between both COVID-19 incidence and mortality and air pollutant concentration levels, and screens the potential effect of the type of agri-food industry and the overall land use and cover (LULC) at area level. We used a main model with demographic, socioeconomic and comorbidity covariates highlighted in previous research as important predictors. This allowed us to take a glimpse of the independent effect of the explanatory variables when controlled for the main model covariates. Our findings are aligned with previous research showing that the baseline features of the regions in terms of general health status, pollutant concentration levels (here NO 2 and PM 10 ), type of agri-food industry, and type of land use and land cover have modulated the impact of COVID-19 at a regional scale. This study is among the first to explore the associations between COVID-19 and the type of agri-food industry and LULC data using a population-based approach. The results of this paper might serve as the basis to develop new research hypotheses using a more comprehensive approach, highlighting the inequalities of regions in terms of risk factors and their response to COVID-19, as well as fostering public policies towards more resilient and safer environments.

Keywords: COVID-19; air pollutants; cardiovascular diseases; psychological disorders; cancer; agri-food industry; land use and land cover data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3768/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3768/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:7:p:3768-:d:530122

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().