The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortality
Despite a growing body of literature focused on racial/ethnic disparities in Covid-19 mortality, few previous studies have examined the pandemic's impact on 2020 cause-specific mortality by race and ethnicity. This paper documents changes in mortality by underlying cause of death and race/ethni...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022-03-01
|
| Series: | SSM: Population Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827321002871 |
| _version_ | 1819174005704228864 |
|---|---|
| author | Anneliese N. Luck Samuel H. Preston Irma T. Elo Andrew C. Stokes |
| author_facet | Anneliese N. Luck Samuel H. Preston Irma T. Elo Andrew C. Stokes |
| author_sort | Anneliese N. Luck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite a growing body of literature focused on racial/ethnic disparities in Covid-19 mortality, few previous studies have examined the pandemic's impact on 2020 cause-specific mortality by race and ethnicity. This paper documents changes in mortality by underlying cause of death and race/ethnicity between 2019 and 2020. Using age-standardized death rates, we attribute changes for Black, Hispanic, and White populations to various underlying causes of death and show how these racial and ethnic patterns vary by age and sex. We find that although Covid-19 death rates in 2020 were highest in the Hispanic community, Black individuals faced the largest increase in all-cause mortality between 2019 and 2020. Exceptionally large increases in mortality from heart disease, diabetes, and external causes of death accounted for the adverse trend in all-cause mortality within the Black population. Within Black and White populations, percentage increases in all-cause mortality were similar for men and women, as well as for ages 25–64 and 65+. Among the Hispanic population, however, percentage increases in mortality were greatest for working-aged men. These findings reveal that the overall impact of the pandemic on racial/ethnic disparities in mortality was much larger than that captured by official Covid-19 death counts alone. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T20:32:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-638be07d6e63482d99d0c64c1ddbc162 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-8273 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T20:32:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SSM: Population Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-638be07d6e63482d99d0c64c1ddbc1622022-12-21T18:13:34ZengElsevierSSM: Population Health2352-82732022-03-0117101012The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortalityAnneliese N. Luck0Samuel H. Preston1Irma T. Elo2Andrew C. Stokes3Department of Sociology and Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Corresponding author. Department of Sociology and Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.Department of Sociology and Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USADepartment of Sociology and Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USADepartment of Global Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USADespite a growing body of literature focused on racial/ethnic disparities in Covid-19 mortality, few previous studies have examined the pandemic's impact on 2020 cause-specific mortality by race and ethnicity. This paper documents changes in mortality by underlying cause of death and race/ethnicity between 2019 and 2020. Using age-standardized death rates, we attribute changes for Black, Hispanic, and White populations to various underlying causes of death and show how these racial and ethnic patterns vary by age and sex. We find that although Covid-19 death rates in 2020 were highest in the Hispanic community, Black individuals faced the largest increase in all-cause mortality between 2019 and 2020. Exceptionally large increases in mortality from heart disease, diabetes, and external causes of death accounted for the adverse trend in all-cause mortality within the Black population. Within Black and White populations, percentage increases in all-cause mortality were similar for men and women, as well as for ages 25–64 and 65+. Among the Hispanic population, however, percentage increases in mortality were greatest for working-aged men. These findings reveal that the overall impact of the pandemic on racial/ethnic disparities in mortality was much larger than that captured by official Covid-19 death counts alone.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827321002871Covid-19MortalityRace/ethnicityPublic healthInequality |
| spellingShingle | Anneliese N. Luck Samuel H. Preston Irma T. Elo Andrew C. Stokes The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortality SSM: Population Health Covid-19 Mortality Race/ethnicity Public health Inequality |
| title | The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortality |
| title_full | The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortality |
| title_fullStr | The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortality |
| title_full_unstemmed | The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortality |
| title_short | The unequal burden of the Covid-19 pandemic: Capturing racial/ethnic disparities in US cause-specific mortality |
| title_sort | unequal burden of the covid 19 pandemic capturing racial ethnic disparities in us cause specific mortality |
| topic | Covid-19 Mortality Race/ethnicity Public health Inequality |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827321002871 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT anneliesenluck theunequalburdenofthecovid19pandemiccapturingracialethnicdisparitiesinuscausespecificmortality AT samuelhpreston theunequalburdenofthecovid19pandemiccapturingracialethnicdisparitiesinuscausespecificmortality AT irmatelo theunequalburdenofthecovid19pandemiccapturingracialethnicdisparitiesinuscausespecificmortality AT andrewcstokes theunequalburdenofthecovid19pandemiccapturingracialethnicdisparitiesinuscausespecificmortality AT anneliesenluck unequalburdenofthecovid19pandemiccapturingracialethnicdisparitiesinuscausespecificmortality AT samuelhpreston unequalburdenofthecovid19pandemiccapturingracialethnicdisparitiesinuscausespecificmortality AT irmatelo unequalburdenofthecovid19pandemiccapturingracialethnicdisparitiesinuscausespecificmortality AT andrewcstokes unequalburdenofthecovid19pandemiccapturingracialethnicdisparitiesinuscausespecificmortality |