Indicators used in policy monitoring documents and decision tools assessing the impact of COVID-19

Abstract

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to present a synthesis of health indicators implemented in policy documents and decision tools to tackle the impact of COVID-19 pandemic across Europe. Methods Two surveys were conducted to collect information on indicators monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. Data source, strength and limitations of the indicators were described. Public health experts from 28 European countries were asked to identify documents and tools from their countries that included impact indicators to measure the direct impact (survey conducted in October 2022) and indirect impact (March 2023) of COVID-19. Experts classified the documents and tools according to their nature: a) promotion, b) prevention or c) health care. Results Thirty-one surveys were completed related to direct impact of COVID-19 from experts of 22 countries. Most of the documents/tools were related to ‘prevention and care’ (38.7%), ‘promotion, prevention and care’ (25.8%) and ‘prevention’ (22.6%). Almost all contributions came from primary sources of information (93.5%) The quality of data collection was the most reported strength for the creation of indicators of direct impact (71.0%) The missing values and diagnoses of SARS-CoV-2 not well defined were the limitations to construct direct impact indicators (19.4%, in both cases). Concerning the indirect impact documents/tools, 15 surveys were completed by 7 experts. Documents/tools with indirect impact indicators mainly covered “promotion and prevention” (46.7%) and prevention (13.3%). Primary and secondary sources of information were evenly used to get indicators of indirect impact (66.7%). A large sample size was mainly reported as strength for indicators of indirect impact (60.0%). Conclusions The indicators collated will be useful to assess the impact of future pandemics. It is crucial to harmonise their calculation to allow for comparisons between settings, countries and different populations. Key messages • The characteristics of direct and indirect impact indicators collated allow to obtain a better understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic was assessed. • Key indicators could be chosen according to their identified strengths and limitations to be truly informative for policymakers.