Analysis of the Risk of Infection by COVID-19 Taking into Account the Social Determinants of Health in Bogotá between February and August 2020

Abstract

This spatial epidemiology study was carried out to evaluate the risk of contracting COVID-19, taking into account the social determinants of health (SDH). The study demonstrated a strong relationship between the data from the model created in the risk analysis and the infections that were locality registered during the months of February to August 2020. Kennedy, Bosa, and Engativá, were the suburbs that presented a higher risk of contagion of COVID-19 compared to the rest of the city. Although, for the study of Bogotá, the same variables and weights were considered for the estimation of risk, the study found that no area of the city was excluded from presenting the virus. However, the areas where there was a higher risk of contracting the virus depended on the characteristics of the local population, the number of reproductions of the virus by suburbs, and the applicable poverty rates. With the results obtained and the model implemented, it is possible to verify what was established in the 1990s, regarding the term syndemia, due to the synergy between the two diseases; in this case, COVID-19 and base comorbidities that are present in the population, added to the social determinants of health, which allow a holistic approach to the management and prevention measures against contagions, starting in the areas of extreme poverty.

Keywords

• social determinants of health
• risk
• vulnerability analysis
• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2
• syndemic