Association of race/ethnicity with mortality in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disproportionately affected various racial and ethnic groups.
• Understanding mortality disparities is crucial for equitable healthcare delivery during the pandemic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate potential racial and ethnic differences in mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
• To adjust for baseline characteristics and comorbidities when assessing mortality risk across different racial/ethnic groups.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study including 10,869 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across 13 acute care facilities in the New York City metropolitan area.
• Data collected on demographics, race/ethnicity, comorbidities, and insurance type.
• In-hospital mortality was the primary outcome, analyzed using adjusted time-to-event methods.

Main Results:

• Factors associated with increased in-hospital mortality included older age, male sex, specific insurance types, unknown smoking status, and higher Charlson Comorbidity Index scores.
• After adjustment, the in-hospital mortality risk for Black, Asian, Hispanic, multiracial/other, and unknown race/ethnicity patients was similar to that of White patients.

Conclusions:

• In a large, diverse cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, racial and ethnic minority groups did not experience a significantly different risk of mortality compared to White patients.
• This finding suggests that after accounting for clinical and demographic factors, race/ethnicity alone may not be an independent predictor of mortality in this specific COVID-19 patient population.