Early Pandemic Access to COVID-19 Testing in the Somali Community in King County, Washington, USA: a Mixed-Methods Evaluation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection and outcomes have been documented, but few studies have examined disparities in access to testing.

Methods

We conducted a mixed methods study of access to COVID-19 testing in the Somali immigrant community in King County, Washington, USA, early during the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020-February 2021, we conducted quantitative surveys in a convenience sample (n = 528) of individuals who had accessed PCR testing, recruited at King County testing sites near Somali population centers and through social media outreach in the Somali community. We compared self-identified Somali and non-Somali responses using Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. We also conducted three Somali-language focus groups (n = 26) by v

SUBMITTER: Abdi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9734463 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature