Monitoring life expectancy levels during the COVID-19 pandemic : example of the unequal impact of the first wave on Spanish regions
Trias-Llimós, Sergi (Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics)
Riffe, Tim (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)
Bilal, Usama (Drexel University)

Date:	2020
Abstract:	Background: To provide an interpretable summary of the impact on mortality of the COVID-19 pandemic we estimate weekly and annual life expectancies at birth in Spain and its regions. Methods: We used daily death count data from the Spanish Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo), and death counts from 2018, and population on July 1st, 2019 by region (CCAA), age groups, and sex from the Spanish National Statistics Institute. We estimated weekly and annual (2019 and 2020*, the shifted annual calendar period up to 5 july 2020) life expectancies at birth as well as their differences with respect to 2019. Results: Weekly life expectancies at birth in Spain were lower in weeks 11-20, 2020 compared to the same weeks in 2019. This drop in weekly life expectancy was especially strong in weeks 13 and 14 (March 23rd to April 5th), with national declines ranging between 6. 1 and 7. 6 years and maximum regional weekly declines of up to 15 years in Madrid. Annual life expectancy differences between 2019 and 2020 also reflected an overall drop in annual life expectancy of 0. 9 years for both men and women. These drops ranged between 0 years in several regions (e. g. Canary and Balearic Islands) to 2. 8 years among men in Madrid. Conclusions: Life expectancy is an easy to interpret measure for understanding the heterogeneity of mortality patterns across Spanish regions. Weekly and annual life expectancy are sensitive useful indicators for understanding disparities and communicating the gravity of the situation because differences are expressed in intuitive year units.
Grants:	European Commission 864616
Note:	Altres ajuts: DP5OD26429
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Mortality ; Health crisis ; SARS-Cov2 ; Regional mortality
Published in:	PloS one, Vol. 15 Núm. 11 (2020) , p. 1-10, ISSN 1932-6203

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241952
PMID: 33152009

10 p, 1.6 MB

8.4 MB

11.3 MB

7.5 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Centre for Demographic Studies (CED-CERCA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles