Key risk factors associated with fractal dimension based geographical clustering of COVID-19 data in the Flemish and Brussels region, Belgium
Introduction: COVID-19 remains a major concern globally. Therefore, it is important to evaluate COVID-19's rapidly changing trends. The fractal dimension has been proposed as a viable method to characterize COVID-19 curves since epidemic data is often subject to considerable heterogeneity. In this study, we aim to investigate the association between various socio-demographic factors and the complexity of the COVID-19 curve as quantified through its fractal dimension. Methods: We collected population indicators data (ethnic composition, socioeconomic status, number of inhabitants, population de... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | Artikel |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2023 |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
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Schlagwörter: | Belgium / canonical correlation analysis / COVID-19 / fractal dimension / socio-demographic indicators |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26705468 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | http://hdl.handle.net/1942/41765 |
Introduction: COVID-19 remains a major concern globally. Therefore, it is important to evaluate COVID-19's rapidly changing trends. The fractal dimension has been proposed as a viable method to characterize COVID-19 curves since epidemic data is often subject to considerable heterogeneity. In this study, we aim to investigate the association between various socio-demographic factors and the complexity of the COVID-19 curve as quantified through its fractal dimension. Methods: We collected population indicators data (ethnic composition, socioeconomic status, number of inhabitants, population density, the older adult population proportion, vaccination rate, satisfaction, and trust in the government) at the level of the statistical sector in Belgium. We compared these data with fractal dimension indicators of COVID-19 incidence between 1 January – 31 December 2021 using canonical correlation analysis. Results: Our results showed that these population indicators have a significant association with COVID-19 incidences, with the highest explanatory and predictive power coming from the number of inhabitants, population density, and ethnic composition. Conclusion: It is important to monitor these population indicators during a pandemic, especially when dealing with targeted interventions for a specific population. ; The authors thank Pieter Chys and Benoit Turbang for providing COVID-19 daily cases and vaccination data in the Flemish region. The authors also thank Jasper Sans for providing COVID-19 vaccination data for Brussels. TN and CF gratefully acknowledge funding by the Fund for Scientific Research— Flanders (grant number 3G0G9820). The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article, or the decision to submit it for publication.