https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/episcience <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As science and knowledge evolve, it is necessary to rethink the way in which research questions are addressed. The importance of multidisciplinary work that allows combining the experience and knowledge of specialists in different fields of action is becoming more and more evident. The complexity of today's reality poses challenges that exceed what disciplinary research can offer. Internationally, high-impact journals such as Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, PLOS One, and Royal Society Open Science, among others, encourage the dissemination of works of this nature.<br /><br />The study and work with communicable diseases and chronic diseases are challenging, given their high level of complexity. From a mathematical modeling perspective, it is known that its dynamics, evolution, and distribution around the world depend not only on the characteristics of the disease but also have a strong social component, as well as, climatic and environmental factors, mobility, among others, that require joint and multidisciplinary work.<br /><br />Health authorities around the world face multiple challenges every year due to the appearance of new diseases, sudden growth in the number of cases of endemic diseases, or unforeseen public health situations that are managed by external factors. In particular, Costa Rica faces outbreaks of vector-borne diseases, respiratory disease outbreaks, and an increase in patients with diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer, among others. Hence, researchers from all over the world and at the local level are interested in studying them, seeking a greater understanding that allows their prevention and control.<br /><br />A vital part of science is sharing and communicating the findings so that they serve as support and encouragement in future research, as well as the development of strategies for control, prevention, and management of health problems facing Costa Rican society.</span></p> Universidad de Costa Rica en-US Epi-SCIENCE 2215-6658 https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/episcience/article/view/60549 <p>The article aims to create a typology of the cantons belonging to the Central Region of Costa Rica, according to their vulnerability levels to COVID hospitalization rates among the elderly population during 2020. Methodologically, official information on reported cases by the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica was used, as well as a set of sociodemographic indicators estimated by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Costa Rica. Based on this information, the technique of cluster analysis was applied, resulting in the creation of five groups of cantons, according to their hospitalization rates and vulnerability levels to the possibilities of hospitalization. The findings indicate that, in general, it can be asserted that cantons with a higher percentage of urban population, higher population density, higher levels of intercantonal mobility, a greater percentage of the population working in tertiary sector occupations, and a higher percentage of the population below the poverty line are, in turn, the most vulnerable to COVID infection and hospitalization rates among the elderly population.</p> Luis Ángel López Ruiz Copyright (c) 2024 Epi-SCIENCE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 2024-06-26 2024-06-26 2 2