Spatial modeling and socioeconomic inequities of COVID-19 in the urban area of the city of Cali, Colombia

Abstract
COVID-19 has spread worldwide with a high variability in cases and mortality between populations. This research aims to assess socioeconomic inequities of COVID-19 in the city of Cali, Colombia, during the first and second peaks of the pandemic in this city. An ecological study by neighborhoods was carried out, were COVID-19 cases were analyzed using a Bayesian hierarchical spatial model that includes potential risk factors such as the index of unsatisfied basic needs and socioeconomic variables as well as random effects to account for residual variation. Maps showing the geographic patterns of the estimated relative risks as well as exceedance probabilities were created. The results indicate that in the first wave, the neighborhoods with the greatest unsatisfied basic needs and low socioeconomic strata, were more likely to report positive cases for COVID-19. For the second wave, the disease begins to spread through different neighborhoods of the city and middle socioeconomic strata presents the highest risk followed by the lower strata. These findings indicate the importance of measuring social determinants in the study of the distribution of cases due to COVID-19 for its inclusion in the interventions and measures implemented to contain contagions and reduce impacts on the most vulnerable populations.

Citation
Arango-Londoño, D., Ortega-Lenis, D., Moraga, P., Torres, M., & Rodríguez-Cortés, F. J. (2022). Spatial modeling and socioeconomic inequities of COVID-19 in the urban area of the city of Cali, Colombia. Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Epidemiology, 100561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sste.2022.100561

Acknowledgements
We thank Cali municipal health secretary for providing the information on COVID-19 case data. David Arango-Londoño, Delia Ortega-Lenis and Francisco J. Rodríguez-Cortés are been partially supported by Universidad Nacional de Colombia, HERMES projects , Grant/Award Number: 51279.

Publisher
Elsevier BV

Journal
Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology

DOI
10.1016/j.sste.2022.100561

PubMed Central ID
PMC9756648

Additional Links
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877584522000843

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