An Assessment of COVID-19 Infectivity and Fatality: Meta-analysis Study

Aim: The effect size of the infectivity and fatality of the Coronavirus disease -2019 (COVID-19) virus, which shook the whole world, was examined using the meta -analysis method, which is considered to have high evidential value. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive literature review (PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, ProQuest, Ulakbim, Ministry of Health, YoK, WHO Global Index) was conducted between December 2019, the date of COVID-19 virus's first appearance in the world, and December 2020. Selection criteria for the study were determined. Twenty-one studies that met the criteria were included. The analyzed articles were coded by two independent coders, and the methodological quality of the studies to be included in the research was evaluated using the "Jadad score" and the "Newcastle Ottawa Criterion". Studies of medium and high quality were included in the study. Three versions of the Comprehensive Meta -Analysis program were used to analyze the data. Results: The effect size on COVID-19 transmission and mortality was calculated as d=0.092 (p=0.000). According to Cohen (1988), studies have high effect sizes and are heterogeneous. According to the results of the moderator analysis investigating the heterogeneity of subgroup data, age, gender, clinical findings and comorbidity were found to be moderators for the mean effect size (p<0.05). In this context, demographic characteristics, clinical picture and comorbidity, as well as COVID-19 transmissibility and mortality rate, were determined to be significant and effective. Conclusion: Due to the fact that it is a study covering the first year of the pandemic using the meta -analysis method in the field of nursing in global public health problems such as pandemics, it is thought that it will guide the studies to be done by using a wider time period and adding studies conducted in wider age categories and in different countries.