Does mask usage correlate with excess mortality? Findings from 24 European countries

Table 1 Correlation between excess deaths (PLAA) and relevant variables

Predictor	Response variable	\(\varvec{\uprho }\)^a	CI^b	p^c
PLAA	Cardiovasc death rate	0.667	[0.361, 0.844]	< .001
	Total cases per million	0.387	[鈭�0.019, 0.684]	0.061
	Total deaths per million	0.878	[0.736, 0.946]	< .001
	% fully vaccinated	鈭�0.659	[鈭�0.839, 鈭�0.349]	< .001
	GDP per capita	鈭�0.781	[鈭�0.901, 鈭�0.552]	< .001
	Gini	0.078	[鈭�0.336, 0.467]	0.718
	Human development index	鈭�0.829	[鈭�0.923, 鈭�0.639]	< .001
	Life expectancy	鈭�0.642	[鈭�0.831, 鈭�0.323]	< .001
	Masks avg.	0.477	[0.092, 0.739]	0.018
	Obesity rate (%)	0.345	[鈭�0.068, 0.657]	0.099
	% of seniors (\(\ge 65\))	鈭�0.217	[鈭�0.57, 0.204]	0.308
	Population (urban) density	0.022	[鈭�0.385, 0.422]	0.918
	Stringency	0.03	[鈭�0.378, 0.428]	0.891

ISSN: 1471-2458