Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Epublish
PubMed: 38167281 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-079862
Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in low-income and lower middle-income countries: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.
BMJ Open 14(1):e079862
Authors: Jonathan Mawutor Gmanyami, Andrzej Jarynowski, Vitaly Belik, Oscar Lambert, John Amuasi, Wilm Quentin
Affiliations
- School of Public Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
- German West-African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention, Kumasi, Ghana.
- Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research Group, Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Kumasi, Ghana.
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- School of Public Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
- Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
- Department of Health Care Management, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
- German West-African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic has been marked by a massive death toll. However, the overall effect of the pandemic, including potential unintended negative impacts of some control measures, on mortality remains poorly understood in low-income and lower middle-income countries (LLMICs). This review aims to summarise the available literature on excess mortality in LLMICs, focusing on the methods and data sources used in estimating excess mortality and the drivers of excess mortality.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS
We will review the available literature and report results in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Searches will be conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and Scopus. All published studies that report on the estimates of excess mortality in populations of LLMICs will be included. This will include those with a publication date from 2019 onwards and those with at least a 1-year non-COVID-19 period as the comparator in the estimation of excess mortality during the pandemic. There will be no language restrictions on the search. The meta-analysis will include studies with extractable data on excess mortality, methods, population size, and observed and expected deaths. We will use the Mantel-Haenszel method to estimate the pooled risk ratio with 95% CIs.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION
As there is no primary data collection, there is no requirement for ethical review. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal publication and conference presentations.
PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42022378267.
MeSH
Mortality, Income, Public Health, Data Collection, Pandemics, Covid-19