Racial Disparities in the Epidemiology of COVID-19 in Georgia: Trends Since State-Wide Reopening.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Porter G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7990566 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Understanding the geographic distribution of pancreatic cancer is important in assessing disease burden and identifying high-risk populations. This study examined the geographic trends of pancreatic cancer incidence, mortality, and mortality-to-incidence ratios (MIRs) in Georgia, with a special focus on racial disparities of disease. Directly age-adjusted pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality rates for Georgia counties (N = 159) were obtained for 2000-2011. Maps of county age-adjusted disease rates and MIRs were generated separately for African Americans and Caucasians. Cluster analyses were conducted to identify unusual geographic aggregations of cancer cases or deaths. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to examine associations between county health factors (e.g., health behaviors, clinical care, and physical environment) and pancreatic cancer incidence or mortality rates. African Americans displayed a significantly higher age-adjusted incidence (14.6/100,000) and mortality rate (13.3/100,000), compared to Caucasians. Cluster analyses identified five significant incidence clusters and four significant mortality clusters among Caucasians; one significant incidence cluster and two significant mortality clusters were identified among African Americans. Weak but significant correlations were noted between physical environment and pancreatic cancer incidence (ρ = 0.16, P = 0.04) and mortality (ρ = 0.18, P = 0.02) among African Americans. A disproportion burden of pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality was exhibited among African Americans in Georgia. Disease intervention efforts should be implemented in high-risk areas, such as the southwest and central region of the state. Future studies should assess health behaviors and physical environment in relationship with the spatial distribution of pancreatic cancer.
| S-EPMC4708903 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundThe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infected over 5 million United States (US) residents resulting in more than 180,000 deaths by August 2020. To mitigate transmission, most states ordered shelter-in-place orders in March and reopening strategies varied.ObjectiveTo estimate excess COVID-19 cases and deaths after reopening compared with trends prior to reopening for two groups of states: (1) states with an evidence-based reopening strategy, defined as reopening indoor dining after implementing a statewide mask mandate, and (2) states reopening indoor dining rooms before implementing a statewide mask mandate.DesignInterrupted time series quasi-experimental study design applied to publicly available secondary data.ParticipantsFifty United States and the District of Columbia.InterventionsReopening indoor dining rooms before or after implementing a statewide mask mandate.Main measuresOutcomes included daily cumulative COVID-19 cases and deaths for each state.Key resultsOn average, the number of excess cases per 100,000 residents in states reopening without masks is ten times the number in states reopening with masks after 8 weeks (643.1 cases; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 406.9, 879.2 and 62.9 cases; CI = 12.6, 113.1, respectively). Excess cases after 6 weeks could have been reduced by 90% from 576,371 to 63,062 and excess deaths reduced by 80% from 22,851 to 4858 had states implemented mask mandates prior to reopening. Over 50,000 excess deaths were prevented within 6 weeks in 13 states that implemented mask mandates prior to reopening.ConclusionsAdditional mitigation measures such as mask use counteract the potential growth in COVID-19 cases and deaths due to reopening businesses. This study contributes to the growing evidence that mask usage is essential for mitigating community transmission of COVID-19. States should delay further reopening until mask mandates are fully implemented, and enforcement by local businesses will be critical for preventing potential future closures.
| S-EPMC7537575 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Racial disparities persist in access to kidney transplantation. Racial differences in preemptive referral, or referral prior to dialysis start, may explain this discrepancy. METHODS:Patient-level data on kidney transplant referrals (2005-2012) from all Georgia transplant centers were linked to the United States Renal Data System to examine racial disparities in preemptive referral, waitlisting, and living donor transplant. Adjusted logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models determined the associations between race (African American vs white) and preemptive referral, and placement on the waitlist and receipt of a living donor kidney, respectively. RESULTS:Among 7752 adults referred for transplant evaluation, 20.38% (n = 1580) were preemptively referred. The odds of African Americans being preemptively referred for transplant evaluation were 37% (OR = 0.63; [95% CI: 0.55 0.71]) lower than white patients. Among preemptively referred patients, there was no racial difference (African Americans compared to white patients. HR = 0.96; [95% CI: 0.88, 1.04]) in waitlisting. However, African Americans were 70% less likely than white patients to receive a living donor transplant (HR = 0.30; [95% CI: 0.21, 0.42]). CONCLUSION:Racial disparities in transplant receipt may be partially explained by disparities in preemptive referral. Interventions to reduce racial disparities in kidney transplant access may need to be targeted earlier in the disease process.
| S-EPMC6153044 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo measure the effects of race/ethnicity, area measures of socioeconomic status (SES) and geographic residency status, and health care supply (HCS) characteristics on breast cancer (BC)-related outcomes.Data sources/study settingFemale patients in Georgia diagnosed with BC in the years 2000-2009.Study designMultilevel regression analysis with adjustment for variables at the county, census tract (CT), and individual level. The county represents the spatial unit of analysis for HCS. SES and geographic residency status were grouped at the CT level.Principal findingsEven after controlling for area-level characteristics, racial and ethnic minority women suffered an unequal BC burden. Despite inferior outcomes for disease stage and receipt of treatment, Hispanics had a marginally significant decreased risk of death compared with non-Hispanics. Higher CT poverty was associated with worse BC-related outcomes. Residing in small, isolated rural areas increased the odds of receiving surgery, decreased the odds of receiving radiotherapy, and decreased the risk of death. A higher per-capita availability of BC care physicians was significantly associated with decreased risk of death.ConclusionsRace/ethnicity and area-level measures of SES, geographic residency status, and HCS contribute to disparities in BC-related outcomes.
| S-EPMC3976183 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesThe objective of the study is the identification of racial differences in characteristics and comorbidities in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and the impact on outcomes.Study designThe study design is a retrospective observational study.MethodsData for all patients admitted to seven community hospitals in Michigan, United States, with polymerase chain reaction confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 from March 10 to April 15, 2020 were analyzed. The primary outcomes of racial disparity in inpatient mortality and intubation were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate regression models.ResultsThe study included 336 Black and 408 White patients. Black patients were younger (62.9 ± 15.0 years vs 71.8 ± 16.4, P < .001), had a higher mean body mass index (32.4 ± 8.6 kg/m2 vs 28.8 ± 7.5, P < .001), had higher prevalence of diabetes (136/336 vs 130/408, P = .02), and presented later (6.6 ± 5.3 days after symptom onset vs. 5.4 ± 5.4, P = .006) compared with White patients. Younger Black patients had a higher prevalence of obesity (age <65 years, 69.9%) than older Black patients (age >65 years, 39.2%) and younger White patients (age < 65, 55.1%). Intubation did not reach statistical significance for racial difference (Black patients 61/335 vs. 54/406, P = .08). Mortality was not higher in Black patients (65/335 vs. 142/406 in White patients, odds ratio 0.61, 95% confidence interval: 0.37 to 0.99, 2-sided P = .05) in multivariate analysis, accounting for other risk factors associated with mortality.ConclusionsHigher prevalence of obesity and diabetes in young Black populations may be the critical factor driving disproportionate COVID-19 hospitalizations in Black populations. Hospitalized Black patients do not have worse outcomes compared with White patients.
| S-EPMC7698674 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has produced vastly disproportionate deaths for communities of color in the United States. Minnesota seemingly stands out as an exception to this national pattern, with white Minnesotans accounting for 80 percent of the population and 82 percent of COVID-19 deaths. The authors examine confirmed COVID-19 mortality alongside deaths indirectly attributable to the pandemic-"excess mortality"-in Minnesota. This analysis reveals profound racial disparities: age-adjusted excess mortality rates for whites are exceeded by a factor of 2.8 to 5.3 for all other racial groups, with the highest rates among Black, Latino, and Native Minnesotans. The seemingly small disparities in COVID-19 deaths in Minnesota reflect the interaction of three factors: the natural history of the disease, whose early toll was heavily concentrated in nursing homes; an exceptionally divergent age distribution in the state; and a greatly different proportion of excess mortality captured in confirmed COVID-19 rates for white Minnesotans compared with most other groups.
| S-EPMC7780067 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundBlack populations in the United States are being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the increased mortality burden after accounting for health and other demographic characteristics is not well understood. We examined characteristics of individuals who died from COVID-19 in Michigan by race stratified by their age, sex and comorbidity prevalence to illustrate and understand this disparity in mortality risk.MethodsWe evaluate COVID-19 mortality in Michigan by demographic and health characteristics, using individual-level linked death certificate and surveillance data collected by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services from March 16 to October 26, 2020. We identified differences in demographics and comorbidity prevalence across race among individuals who died from COVID-19 and calculated mortality rates by age, sex, race, and number of comorbidities.FindingsAmong the 6,065 COVID-19 related deaths in Michigan, Black individuals are experiencing 3·6 times the mortality rate of White individuals (p<0.001), with a mortality rate for Black individuals under 65 years without comorbidities that is 12·6 times that of their White counterparts (p<0.001). After accounting for age, race, sex, and number of comorbidities, we find that Black individuals in all strata are at higher risk of COVID-19 mortality than their White counterparts.InterpretationOur findings demonstrate that Black populations are disproportionately burdened by COVID-19 mortality, even after accounting for demographic and underlying health characteristics. We highlight how disparities across race, which result from systemic racism, are compounded in crises.FundingASP, AP and APG were funded by NSF Expeditions grant 1918784, NIH grant 1R01AI151176-01, NSF Rapid Response Research for COVID-19 grant RAPID-2027755, and the Notsew Orm Sands Foundation. MCF was supported by NIH grant K01AI141576.
| S-EPMC7933264 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesTo identify sociodemographic, clinical and behavioural drivers of racial disparities and their association with clinical outcomes among Kaiser Permanente Georgia (KPGA) members with COVID-19.DesignRetrospective cohort of patients with COVID-19 seen from 3 March to 29 October 2020. We described the distribution of underlying comorbidities, quality of care metrics, demographic and social determinants of health (SDOH) indicators across race groups. We also described clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients including length of stay, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, readmission and mortality. We performed multivariable analyses for hospitalisation risk among all patients with COVID-19 and stratifyied by race and sex.SettingKPGA, an integrated healthcare system.Participants5712 patients who all had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Of them, 57.8% were female, 58.4% black, 29.5% white, 8.5% Hispanic and 3.6% Asian.ResultsBlack patients had the highest proportions of living in neighborhoods under the federal poverty line (12.4%) and in more deprived locations (neighbourhood deprivation index=0.4). Overall, 14.4% (n=827) of this cohort was hospitalised. Asian patients had the highest rates of ICU admission (53.1%) and mechanical ventilation (21.9%). Among all patients, Hispanics (adjusted 1.60, 95% CI (1.08, 2.37)), blacks (1.43 (1.13, 1.83)), age in years (1.03 (1.02, 1.04)) and living in a zip code with high unemployment (1.08 (1.03, 1.13)) were associated with higher odds of hospitalisation. COVID-19 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2.59 (1.67, 4.02)), chronic heart failure (1.79 (1.31, 2.45)), immunocompromised (1.77 (1.16, 2.70)), with glycated haemoglobin >8% (1.68 (1.19, 2.38)), depression (1.60 (1.24, 2.06)), hypertension (1.5 (1.21, 1.87)) and physical inactivity (1.25 (1.03, 1.51)) had higher odds of hospitalisation.ConclusionsBlack and Hispanic KPGA patients were at higher odds of hospitalisation, but not mortality, compared with other race groups. Beyond previously reported sociodemographics and comorbidities, factors such as quality of care, lifestyle behaviours and SDOH indicators should be considered when designing and implementing interventions to reduce COVID-19 racial disparities.
| S-EPMC8136804 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Black and Hispanic communities are disproportionately affected by both incarceration and COVID-19. The epidemiological relationship between carceral facilities and community health during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, remains largely unexamined. Using data from Cook County Jail, we examine temporal patterns in the relationship between jail cycling (i.e., arrest and processing of individuals through jails before release) and community cases of COVID-19 in Chicago ZIP codes. We use multivariate regression analyses and a machine-learning tool, elastic regression, with 1,706 demographic control variables. We find that for each arrested individual cycled through Cook County Jail in March 2020, five additional cases of COVID-19 in their ZIP code of residence are independently attributable to the jail as of August. A total 86% of this additional disease burden is borne by majority-Black and/or -Hispanic ZIPs, accounting for 17% of cumulative COVID-19 cases in these ZIPs, 6% in majority-White ZIPs, and 13% across all ZIPs. Jail cycling in March alone can independently account for 21% of racial COVID-19 disparities in Chicago as of August 2020. Relative to all demographic variables in our analysis, jail cycling is the strongest predictor of COVID-19 rates, considerably exceeding poverty, race, and population density, for example. Arrest and incarceration policies appear to be increasing COVID-19 incidence in communities. Our data suggest that jails function as infectious disease multipliers and epidemiological pumps that are especially affecting marginalized communities. Given disproportionate policing and incarceration of racialized residents nationally, the criminal punishment system may explain a large proportion of racial COVID-19 disparities noted across the United States.
| S-EPMC8166074 | biostudies-literature
Project description:COVID-19 inequities have been well-documented. We evaluated whether higher rates of severe COVID-19 in racial and ethnic minority groups were driven by higher infection rates by evaluating if disparities remained when analyses were restricted to people with infection. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adults insured through Kaiser Permanente (Colorado, Northwest, Washington), follow-up in March-September 2020. Laboratory results and hospitalization diagnosis codes identified individuals with COVID-19. Severe COVID-19 was defined as invasive mechanical ventilation or mortality. Self-reported race and ethnicity, demographics, and medical comorbidities were extracted from health records. Modified Poisson regression estimated adjusted relative risks (aRRs) of severe COVID-19 in full cohort and among individuals with infection. Our cohort included 1,052,774 individuals, representing diverse racial and ethnic minority groups (e.g., 68,887 Asian, 41,243 Black/African American, 93,580 Hispanic or Latino/a individuals). Among 7,399 infections, 442 individuals experienced severe COVID-19. In the full cohort, severe COVID-19 aRRs for Asian, Black/African American, and Hispanic individuals were 2.09 (95% CI: 1.36, 3.21), 2.02 (1.39, 2.93), and 2.09 (1.57, 2.78), respectively, compared to non-Hispanic Whites. In analyses restricted to individuals with COVID-19, all aRRs were near 1, except among Asian Americans (aRR 1.82 [1.23, 2.68]). These results indicate increased incidence of severe COVID-19 among Black/African American and Hispanic individuals is due to higher infection rates, not increased susceptibility to progression. COVID-19 disparities most likely result from social, not biological, factors. Future work should explore reasons for increased severe COVID-19 risk among Asian Americans. Our findings highlight the importance of equity in vaccine distribution.
| S-EPMC8785693 | biostudies-literature