Risk Management and Healthcare Policy (Apr 2024)
COVID-19 Pandemic Risk Assessment: Systematic Review
Abstract
Amanda MY Chu,1 Patrick WH Kwok,1 Jacky NL Chan,2 Mike KP So2 1Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong; 2Department of Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong KongCorrespondence: Amanda MY Chu, Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong, Email [email protected]: The COVID-19 pandemic presents the possibility of future large-scale infectious disease outbreaks. In response, we conducted a systematic review of COVID-19 pandemic risk assessment to provide insights into countries’ pandemic surveillance and preparedness for potential pandemic events in the post-COVID-19 era.Objective: We aim to systematically identify relevant articles and synthesize pandemic risk assessment findings to facilitate government officials and public health experts in crisis planning.Methods: This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines and included over 620,000 records from the World Health Organization COVID-19 Research Database. Articles related to pandemic risk assessment were identified based on a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Relevant articles were characterized based on study location, variable types, data-visualization techniques, research objectives, and methodologies. Findings were presented using tables and charts.Results: Sixty-two articles satisfying both the inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified. Among the articles, 32.3% focused on local areas, while another 32.3% had a global coverage. Epidemic data were the most commonly used variables (74.2% of articles), with over half of them (51.6%) employing two or more variable types. The research objectives covered various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with risk exposure assessment and identification of risk factors being the most common theme (35.5%). No dominant research methodology for risk assessment emerged from these articles.Conclusion: Our synthesized findings support proactive planning and development of prevention and control measures in anticipation of future public health threats.Keywords: meta-analysis, coronavirus, pandemic risk management, WHO COVID-19 research database, data visualization
