Tengku Muhammad Hanis, Wan Nor Arifin, Kamarul Imran Musa, Wan Shakira Rodzlan Hasani, Che Muhammad Nur Hidayat Che Nawi, Shahnon Anuar Shahrani, Xin Wee Chen, Mohd Azmi Suliman, Erwan Ershad Ahmad Khan, Wira Alfatah Ab Aziz, Mohamad Zarudin Mat Said
Author Information
Tengku Muhammad Hanis: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Wan Nor Arifin: Biostatistics and Research Methodology Unit, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Kamarul Imran Musa: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Wan Shakira Rodzlan Hasani: Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
Che Muhammad Nur Hidayat Che Nawi: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Shahnon Anuar Shahrani: KMI Kuala Terengganu Medical Center, Terengganu, Malaysia.
Xin Wee Chen: Department of Public Health Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Sungai Buloh Campus, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia.
Mohd Azmi Suliman: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Erwan Ershad Ahmad Khan: Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Wira Alfatah Ab Aziz: Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Kota Bharu, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia.
Mohamad Zarudin Mat Said: Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Batang Padang, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Perak, Malaysia.
Background: Understanding the risks of COVID-19 mortality helps in the planning and prevention of the disease. This study aimed to determine the risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in Malaysia. Methods: Secondary online data provided by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia and Malaysia's national COVID-19 immunisation programme were used: i) COVID-19deaths data; ii) vaccination coverage data and iii) population estimate data. Quasi-Poisson regression was performed to determine the risk factors for COVID-19 mortality. Results: Four risk factors were identified: i) vaccination status (partial versus unvaccinated, incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.64; complete versus unvaccinated, IRR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.56; booster versus unvaccinated, IRR: 0.13; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.26); ii) age group (19 years old-59 years old versus above 60 years old, IRR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.84, 0.97; 13 years old-18 years old versus above 60 years old, IRR: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.19; 6 years old-12 years old versus above 60 years old, IRR: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.22; below 5 years old versus above 60 years old, IRR: 0.11; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.23); iii) gender (male versus female, IRR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.32) and iv) comorbidity (yes versus no, IRR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.96, 2.32). Conclusion: This study highlighted the risk factors for COVID-19 mortality and the benefit of COVID-19 vaccination, especially of booster vaccination, in reducing the risk of COVID-19 mortality in Malaysia.
