Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Social Issues / 29.01.2021
COVID-19: Social Disadvantage Strongly Linked to Incidence and Deaths
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Renuka Tipirneni, MD, MSc, FACP
Assistant Professor
Holder of the Grace H. Elta MD Department of Internal Medicine Early Career Endowment Award 2019-2024
University of Michigan Department of Internal Medicine, Divisions of General Medicine and Hospital Medicine,
and Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation
Ann Arbor, MI
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: As there have been significant racial/ethnic disparities in US COVID-19 infections and health outcomes including death, we investigated county-level social factors that may explain these inequities. Specifically, we examined the association between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index (a composite measure of social disadvantage) and COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates. We found that with just a one-point increase in the ten-point scale, there was a 14% increase in incidence rate and 14% increase in mortality rate. This equated to approximately 87 excess COVID-19 infections and 3 deaths per 100,000 population.
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