Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis
Abstract Substantial health disparities exist across race/ethnicity in the USA, with Black Americans often most affected. The current COVID-19 pandemic is no different. While there have been ample studies describing racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, relatively few have establis...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer International Publishing
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139845 |
| _version_ | 1826197454241923072 |
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| author | Tan, Shin B. deSouza, Priyanka Raifman, Matthew |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Tan, Shin B. deSouza, Priyanka Raifman, Matthew |
| author_sort | Tan, Shin B. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Abstract
Substantial health disparities exist across race/ethnicity in the USA, with Black Americans often most affected. The current COVID-19 pandemic is no different. While there have been ample studies describing racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, relatively few have established an empirical link between these disparities and structural racism. Such empirical analyses are critically important to help defuse “victim-blaming” narratives about why minority communities have been badly hit by COVID-19. In this paper, we explore the empirical link between structural racism and disparities in county-level COVID-19 outcomes by county racial composition. Using negative binomial regression models, we examine how five measures of county-level residential segregation and racial disparities in socioeconomic outcomes as well as incarceration rates are associated with county-level COVID-19 outcomes. We find significant associations between higher levels of measured structural racism and higher rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths, even after adjusting for county-level population sociodemographic characteristics, measures of population health, access to healthcare, population density, and duration of the COVID-19 outbreak. One percentage point more Black residents predicted a 1.1% increase in county case rate. This association decreased to 0.4% when structural racism indicators were included in our model. Similarly, one percentage point more Black residents predicted a 1.8% increase in county death rates, which became non-significant after adjustment for structural racism. Our findings lend empirical support to the hypothesis that structural racism is an important driver of racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, and reinforce existing calls for action to address structural racism as a fundamental cause of health disparities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:47:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/139845 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:47:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Springer International Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1398452024-03-26T18:46:31Z Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis Tan, Shin B. deSouza, Priyanka Raifman, Matthew Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning Abstract Substantial health disparities exist across race/ethnicity in the USA, with Black Americans often most affected. The current COVID-19 pandemic is no different. While there have been ample studies describing racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, relatively few have established an empirical link between these disparities and structural racism. Such empirical analyses are critically important to help defuse “victim-blaming” narratives about why minority communities have been badly hit by COVID-19. In this paper, we explore the empirical link between structural racism and disparities in county-level COVID-19 outcomes by county racial composition. Using negative binomial regression models, we examine how five measures of county-level residential segregation and racial disparities in socioeconomic outcomes as well as incarceration rates are associated with county-level COVID-19 outcomes. We find significant associations between higher levels of measured structural racism and higher rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths, even after adjusting for county-level population sociodemographic characteristics, measures of population health, access to healthcare, population density, and duration of the COVID-19 outbreak. One percentage point more Black residents predicted a 1.1% increase in county case rate. This association decreased to 0.4% when structural racism indicators were included in our model. Similarly, one percentage point more Black residents predicted a 1.8% increase in county death rates, which became non-significant after adjustment for structural racism. Our findings lend empirical support to the hypothesis that structural racism is an important driver of racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes, and reinforce existing calls for action to address structural racism as a fundamental cause of health disparities. 2022-02-04T13:16:34Z 2022-02-04T13:16:34Z 2021-01-19 2020-12-12 2022-02-04T04:23:18Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2196-8837 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139845 Tan, S.B., deSouza, P. & Raifman, M. Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 9, 236–246 (2022) en https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00948-8 Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute application/pdf Springer International Publishing Springer International Publishing |
| spellingShingle | Tan, Shin B. deSouza, Priyanka Raifman, Matthew Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis |
| title | Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis |
| title_full | Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis |
| title_short | Structural Racism and COVID-19 in the USA: a County-Level Empirical Analysis |
| title_sort | structural racism and covid 19 in the usa a county level empirical analysis |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139845 |
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