A Framework for Sociodemographic Analysis and Disease Severity among Children during COVID-19

Abstract

Rapidly spreading infectious diseases pose a significant public health risk, necessitating immediate action to prevent the disease at the societal level. Regardless of the disease phases, both pandemics and endemics threatened children’s health. The complex interactions between social health determinants and urbanization may impact new and re-emerging infectious diseases which necessitates specific intervention and management. Post-COVID-19 communities commonly reported infected infants and children with mild or severe symptoms, which were recently found in several developed and developing countries. As such, there is a growing need to understand social-demographic factors that can contribute to COVID-19 severity among children. This research proposed a new conceptual framework and structured analysis comprising three types: univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis. These analytical approaches were employed to determine the socio-demographic characteristics and severity of COVID-19 among children in Melaka during pandemic and endemic transition phases. An endemic transition was achieved out of 7,280 cases during the pandemic phases, while a total of 25010 cases were collected. The secondary data were obtained from the ‘Line listing of COVID-19’ under the Melaka State Health Department, Malaysia Ministry of Health. Overall, the analysis will produce a model that can predict subjects or factors that contribute to COVID-19 infection. By following these steps, the model can systematically explore the relationship between the variables and derive meaningful insights from the data, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of the factors affecting health outcomes in specific populations, particularly children. Thus, socio-demographic factors such as gender, age, ethnicity, geographical location, symptoms, comorbidities, and vaccination status influence the severity of COVID-19 cases. The framework is applied to conduct a comprehensive analysis of COVID-19 cases in Melaka state, serving as a case study for both pandemic and endemic transition. This study highlights distinct socio-demographic patterns and severity trends for COVID-19 among children in Melaka across pandemic and endemic phases. The findings underscore the importance of targeted public health strategies and vaccination programs to manage disease severity and transmission among vulnerable pediatric populations. This conceptual framework may serve as a practice adaptive strategic map for planning interventions and conducting research, aiming to investigate further the impact of the social environment and transmission pathways to reduce children’s health risks and effectively control disease outbreaks.