The relationship between demographic, psychosocial and health-related parameters and the impact of COVID-19: a study of twenty-four Indian regions

Rajkumar, R. P.

Objectives: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has varied widely across nations and even in different regions of the same nation. Some of this variability may be due to the interplay of pre-existing demographic, psychological, social and health-related factors in a given population. Methods: Data on the COVID-19 prevalence, crude mortality and case fatality rates were obtained from official government statistics for 24 regions of India. The relationship between these parameters and demographic, social, psychological and health-related indices in these states was examined using both bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results: A variety of factors - state population, sex ratio, and burden of diarrhoeal disease and ischemic heart disease - were associated with measures of the impact of COVID-19 on bivariate analyses. On multivariate analyses, prevalence and crude mortality rate were both significantly and negatively associated with the sex ratio. Conclusions: These results suggest that the transmission and impact of COVID-19 in a given population may be influenced by a number of variables, with demographic factors showing the most consistent association.