Overcrowding and COVID-19 mortality across U.S. counties: Are disparities growing over time?

ABSTRACT: A growing line of research underscores that sociodemographic factors may contribute to disparities in the impact of COVID-19. Further, stages of disease theory suggests that disparities may grow as the pandemic unfolds and more advantaged areas are better able to apply growing knowledge and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we focus on the role of county-level household overcrowding on disparities in COVID-19 mortality in U.S. counties. We examine this relationship across three theoretically important periods of the pandemic from April-October 2020, that mark both separate stages of community knowledge and national mortality levels. We find evidence that the percentage of overcrowded households is a stronger predictor of COVID-19 mortality during later periods of the pandemic. Moreover

SUBMITTER: Kamis C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8219888 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature