Syndemics: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Complex Epidemic Events Like COVID-19

Abstract

In this review, we trace the origins and dissemination of syndemics, a concept developed within critical medical anthropology that rapidly diffused to other fields. The goal is to provide a review of the literature, with a focus on key debates. After a brief discussion of the nature and significance of syndemic theory and its applications, we trace the history and development of the syndemic framework within anthropology and the contributions of anthropologists who use it. We also look beyond anthropology to the adoption and use of syndemics in other health-related disciplines, including biomedicine, nursing, public health, and psychology, and discuss controversies in syndemics, particularly the perception that existing syndemics research focuses on methodologies at the individual level rather than at the population level and fails to provide evidence of synergistic interactions. Finally, we discuss emerging syndemics research on COVID-19 and provide an overview of the application of syndemics research.

Mapping spatial morbidity patterns for bronchiolitis related to socioeconomic estimators: A spatial epidemiology approach to identify health disparities in Puerto Madryn, Argentina

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Argentine Patagonia that combines hospital records, patients' home location, household well-being and access to basic needs. Although other authors have postulated that such approaches require internal validation to avoid bias (Singer et al, 2021), we believe this is the most appropriate given the characteristics of local health facilities, known birth rates, cold season climate characteristics in the Patagonian region, and RSV seasonality. Studying this set of variables (whose annual behavior is expected and known) combined with GIS tools are useful to describe clusters of cases and concomitant conditions within our city.…”

Proposing a New Conceptual Syndemic Framework for COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Narrative Review

“…Through our proposed framework, we can illustrate and conceptualize how the sociodemographic and contextual factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine hesitancy can co-occur and interact with each other, resulting in magnified risk of developing adverse health outcomes. For example, according to previous research, immigrants or refugees are among the people who are most likely to encounter discrimination in the labor market, facing substantially higher levels of unemployment and lower wages [ 146 , 147 ]. This is because of the workplace preference to hire native people in higher-skilled jobs or the lower education level of immigrants and refugees, all of which can threaten their food security, accessibility to transport and health literacy.…”

Agribusiness and the COVID-19 syndemic: The unsustainable pathways

“…In other words, there is a synergetic interaction between the virus infection and pre-existing chronic disorders. As they all cluster among disadvantaged people, it has been suggested that it would be more appropriate to term the COVID-19 pandemic a syndemic [ 6 ].…”