Assessing inequities underlying racial disparities of COVID-19 mortality in Louisiana parishes.

ABSTRACT: High COVID-19 mortality among Black communities heightened the pandemic's devastation. In the state of Louisiana, the racial disparity associated with COVID-19 mortality was significant; Black Americans accounted for 50% of known COVID-19-related deaths while representing only 32% of the state's population. In this paper, we argue that structural racism resulted in a synergistic framework of cumulatively negative determinants of health that ultimately affected COVID-19 deaths in Louisiana Black communities. We identify the spatial distribution of social, environmental, and economic stressors across Louisiana parishes using hot spot analysis to develop aggregate stressors. Further, we examine the correlation between stressors, cumulative health risks, COVID-19 mortality, and the size of Bla

SUBMITTER: Hu G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9271191 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature