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Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Health behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic

outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely not the last Consent for publication
pandemic the world will witness. This warrants the need
to explore important predictors of behavior during a Not applicable.
global pandemic, such as PPE purchasing and individuals’ Availability of data
financial sustainability, as it may potentially benefit
individuals by providing precautionary measures and The data for this study were sourced from the publicly
possible interventions if another global health crisis were available CHARLS database, hosted by the National School
to arise in the future. of Development at Peking University. Access to the dataset
is available through the official website: http://charls.pku.
5. Conclusion edu.cn/en. (accessed on November 24, 2024).

Our study aimed to explore the association of medical References
and fitness expenditures with PPE purchases, and of these
expenditures with individuals’ financial sustainability, An, X., Xiao, L., Yang, X., Tang, X., Lai, F., & Liang, X.H. (2022).
measured by the behavioral level of ease in covering Economic burden of public health care and hospitalisation
their daily expenses, during the COVID-19 pandemic associated with COVID-19 in China. Public Health, 203:65-74.
among the mainland Chinese aged 45 and above. There https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.12.001
is no significant association between these expenditures Cohen, J., & van der Meulen Rodgers, Y. (2020). Contributing
and PPE purchasing behavior in China shortly after the factors to personal protective equipment shortages
lockdown in Wuhan. Conversely, this present study finds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Preventative Medicine,
a significant impact of medical and fitness expenditures 141:106263.
on the individuals’ financial sustainability during the https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106263
pandemic for Chinese mainland residents aged 45 and
above. Coronavirus Resource Center by Johns Hopkins University
of Medicine. (2023). China Overview. Available from:
Acknowledgments https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/china [Last accessed on
2024 Aug 23].
The authors would like to thank James A. Hu for his efforts Elola-Somoza, F.J., Bas-Villalobos, M.C., Pérez-Villacastín, J., &
in editing the initial version of this manuscript.
Macaya-Miguel, C. (2021). Public healthcare expenditure
Funding and COVID-19 mortality in Spain and in Europe. Revista
Clínica Española (Barc), 221(7):400-403.
None. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rceng.2020.11.006
Conflict of interest Findling, M.G., Blendon, R.J., & Benson, J.M. (2021). Serious
financial burdens facing U.S. households with employment
The authors declare they have no competing interests. loss during COVID-19. Challenge, 64(1):3-10.
Author contributions https://doi.org/10.1080/05775132.2020.1866905

Conceptualization: Nan Hu, Wupeng Yin, Shawn Dinh Gong, J., Wang, G., Wang, Y., Chen, X., Chen, Y., Meng, Q., et al.
Formal analysis: Shawn Dinh, Wupeng Yin, Niliarys Sifre- (2022). Nowcasting and forecasting the care needs of the
Acosta older population in China: Analysis of data from the china
Investigation: Nan Hu, Wupeng Yin, Shawn Dinh health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS). Lancet
Public Health, 7(12):e1005-e1013.
Methodology: Nan Hu, Wupeng Yin
Writing – original draft: Shawn Dinh, Wupeng Yin, Niliarys https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(22)00203-1
Sifre-Acosta Hafidz, F., Adiwibowo, I.R., Kusila, G.R., Ruby, M., Saut, B.,
Writing – review & editing: Nan Hu, Wupeng Yin Jaya, C., et al. (2023). Out-of-pocket expenditure and
catastrophic costs due to COVID-19 in Indonesia: A rapid
Ethics approval and consent to participate online survey. Frontiers in Public Health, 11:1072250.
This study is a secondary data analysis using the CHARLS https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1072250
Wave 5 data. Ethical approval for all waves of CHARLS Khan, J.R., Awan, N., Islam, M., & Muurlink, O. (2020). Healthcare
was granted by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at capacity, health expenditure, and civil society as predictors
Peking University. The IRB approval number for the main of COVID-19 case fatalities: A global analysis. Frontiers in
household survey is IRB00001052 – 11015. Public Health, 8:347.

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 211 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.6619