Temporal trends in the association of social vulnerability and race/ethnicity with county-level COVID-19 incidence and outcomes in the USA: an ecological analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the socially vulnerable and minority communities in the USA initially, but the temporal trends during the year-long pandemic remain unknown.

Objective

We examined the temporal association of county-level Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a percentile-based measure of social vulnerability to disasters, its subcomponents and race/ethnic composition with COVID-19 incidence and mortality in the USA in the year starting in March 2020.

Methods

Counties (n=3091) with ≥50 COVID-19 cases by 6 March 2021 were included in the study. Associations between SVI (and its subcomponents) and county-level racial composition with incidence and death per capita were assessed by fitting a negative-binomial mixed-effects model. This model

SUBMITTER: Islam SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8300549 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature