Table 5.
Random-effects meta-regression analysis of the crude test positivity risk at the last follow-up date in the extended analysis (February 12, 2021) for 73 countries.
| MODEL 1: a priori model | MODEL 2: bootstrap variable selection | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crude test positivity risk | Crude test positivity risk | |||||||
| Covariates | β | SE | P-value | OR | β | SE | P-value | OR |
| Intercept | 6.1941 | 3.0688 | – | – | 4.3767 | 2.5753 | – | – |
| Sociodemographic factors | ||||||||
| GDP per capita ($1,000 USD, 2019) | −0.0073 | 0.0118 | 0.537 | 0.99 | – | – | – | – |
| Urban population (%) | – | – | – | – | −0.0164 | 0.0078 | 0.040 | 0.98 |
| Population density (pop per km2) | 0.0001 | 0.0002 | 0.584 | 1.00 | – | – | – | – |
| Elderly dependency ratio (% of adults) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Proportion over 65 years (%) | −0.0097 | 0.0359 | 0.788 | 0.99 | −0.1197 | 0.0720 | 0.102 | 0.89 |
| Proportion over 80 years (%) | – | – | – | – | 0.3764 | 0.2171 | 0.088 | 1.46 |
| Proportion overweight (%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Pandemic–related factors | ||||||||
| Time since 1st case (days) | −0.0277 | 0.0080 | 0.001 | 0.97 | −0.0444 | 0.0063 | <0.0001 | 0.96 |
| Time since 100 cases (days) | – | – | – | – | 0.0242 | 0.0062 | <0.0001 | 1.02 |
| Time since 1st death (days) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Testing coverage (n. tests per 10,000 pop) | −0.0047 | 0.0036 | 0.197 | 1.00 | – | – | – | – |
| Health system strength | ||||||||
| Healthcare workers (n. per 1,000 pop) | −0.0126 | 0.0487 | 0.797 | 0.99 | −0.0701 | 0.0335 | 0.041 | 0.93 |
| Hospital beds (n. per 1,000 pop) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Health expenditure (% of GDP) | – | – | – | – | 0.2165 | 0.0598 | 0.001 | 1.24 |
| Out–of–pocket health expenditure (%) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Cultural characteristics | ||||||||
| Individualism vs. collectivism | 0.0073 | 0.0091 | 0.427 | 1.01 | – | – | – | – |
| Uncertainty avoidance | 0.0158 | 0.0082 | 0.059 | 1.02 | – | – | – | – |
| Indulgence vs. restraint | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Long–term vs. short–term orientation | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Power distance | – | – | – | – | 0.0192 | 0.0063 | 0.003 | 1.02 |
| Masculinity vs. femininity | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Political characteristics | ||||||||
| Polity (democracy vs. authoritarianism) | 0.0454 | 0.0353 | 0.203 | 1.05 | 0.0461 | 0.0296 | 0.125 | 1.05 |
| pseudo R2: 36% | pseudo R2: 53% | |||||||
| AIC:209.6 BIC:233.2 | AIC:190.6 BIC:214.1 | |||||||
Dependent variables were logit transformation to stabilize the variance of proportions. Random-effects meta-regression was used to explore the impact of cultural characteristics on fatalities while adjusting for important predefined covariates. Pseudo-R-squared value represent the proportion of heterogeneity explained by predictors included in the model. OR, Odds ratio; AIC, Akaike information criterion; BIC, Bayesian information criterion. Bold font indicates a statistically significant association with outcome at p < 0.05.