The Magnitude of Black/Hispanic Disparity in COVID-19 Mortality Across United States Counties During the First Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Int J Public Health
; 66: 1604004, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1438445
ABSTRACT
Objectives:
To quantify the Black/Hispanic disparity in COVID-19 mortality in the United States (US).Methods:
COVID-19 deaths in all US counties nationwide were analyzed to estimate COVID-19 mortality rate ratios by county-level proportions of Black/Hispanic residents, using mixed-effects Poisson regression. Excess COVID-19 mortality counts, relative to predicted under a counterfactual scenario of no racial/ethnic disparity gradient, were estimated.Results:
County-level COVID-19 mortality rates increased monotonically with county-level proportions of Black and Hispanic residents, up to 5.4-fold (≥43% Black) and 11.6-fold (≥55% Hispanic) higher compared to counties with <5% Black and <15% Hispanic residents, respectively, controlling for county-level poverty, age, and urbanization level. Had this disparity gradient not existed, the US COVID-19 death count would have been 92.1% lower (177,672 fewer deaths), making the rate comparable to other high-income countries with substantially lower COVID-19 death counts.Conclusion:
During the first 8 months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the US experienced the highest number of COVID-19 deaths. This COVID-19 mortality burden is strongly associated with county-level racial/ethnic diversity, explaining most US COVID-19 deaths.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Black or African American
/
Hispanic or Latino
/
Health Status Disparities
/
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Int J Public Health
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijph.2021.1604004
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