ABSTRACT
Every year, around 300 million surgical procedures are performed worldwide 1,2, with an estimated 4% early postoperative mortality rate. 3,4 However, little is known about global quality of surgery, specifically in middle-income countries. Colombia, similar to other Latin American countries, has an interesting diversity of healthcare needs. In urban settings, the healthcare offered is among the best in Latin America, with top-quality hospitals and educational programs comparable to those in the USA or Europe. In contrast, in most rural areas of Latin America, including some of the most remote locations in the world (like the Pacific Coast or the Amazon forest), a frail and fragmented healthcare system prevails, similar to the conditions in very low-income countries. At least 7.1 million people (15.1% of the population) lack hospital access within a 2-hour drive, and despite these characteristics, the early reported postoperative mortality is low - 0.74%.
Cada año se realizan alrededor de 300 millones de intervenciones quirúrgicas en todo el mundo 1,2, con una tasa estimada de mortalidad postoperatoria temprana del 4%. 3,4 Sin embargo, poco se sabe sobre la calidad global de la cirugía, específicamente en los países de ingresos medios. Colombia, al igual que otros países latinoamericanos, presenta una interesante diversidad de necesidades de atención médica. En los entornos urbanos, la oferta sanitaria se encuentra entre las mejores de América Latina, con hospitales de primera calidad y programas educativos comparables a los de Estados Unidos o Europa. En cambio, en la mayoría de las zonas rurales de América Latina, incluidas algunas de las localidades más remotas del mundo (como la costa del Pacífico o la selva amazónica), prevalece un sistema sanitario frágil y fragmentado, similar a las condiciones de los países de muy bajos ingresos. Al menos 7,1 millones de personas (el 15,1% de la población) carecen de acceso a un hospital a menos de 2 horas de viaje, y a pesar de estas características, la mortalidad postoperatoria temprana reportada es baja: 0,74%.
Subject(s)
Humans , Perioperative Medicine , Surgical Procedures, Operative , Colombia , Pandemics , Latin AmericaABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To quantify the burden of death that COVID-19 contributes relative to the top three causes of death for all countries. DESIGN: We performed uncertainty analyses and created contour plots for COVID-19 mortality to place the number of COVID-19 deaths in context relative to the top three causes of death in each country, across a plausible range of values for two key parameters: case fatality rate and magnitude of under-reporting. SETTING: All countries that have reported COVID-19 cases to the WHO and are included in the Global Burden of Disease Study by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Monthly number of deaths caused by COVID-19 and monthly number of deaths caused by the top three causes of death for every country. RESULTS: For countries that were particularly hard hit during the outbreak in 2020, most combinations of model parameters resulted in COVID-19 ranking within the top three causes of death. For countries not as hard hit on a per-capita basis, such as China and India, COVID-19 did not rank higher than the third leading cause of death at any combination of the model parameters within the given ranges. Up-to-date ranking of COVID-19 deaths relative to the top three causes of death for all countries globally is provided in an interactive online application. CONCLUSIONS: Estimating the country-level burden of death that COVID-19 contributes relative to the top three causes of death is feasible through contour graphs, even when the actual number of deaths or cases is unknown. This method can help convey importance by placing the magnitude of COVID-related deaths in context relative to more familiar causes of death by communicating when COVID-related deaths rank among the top three causes of death.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Cause of Death , Causality , Disease Outbreaks , UncertaintyABSTRACT
This paper quantifies the net impact (direct and indirect effects) of the pandemic on the United States population in 2020 using three metrics: excess deaths, life expectancy, and total years of life lost. The findings indicate there were 375,235 excess deaths, with 83% attributable to direct, and 17% attributable to indirect effects of COVID-19. The decrease in life expectancy was 1.67 years, translating to a reversion of 14 years in historical life expectancy gains. Total years of life lost in 2020 was 7,362,555 across the USA (73% directly attributable, 27% indirectly attributable to COVID-19), with considerable heterogeneity at the individual state level.