A Comparison of Race and Ethnicity in COVID-19 Testing, Hospitalization, and Mortality

Basic Details
Date Posted
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Status
In progress
Health Outcome(s)
Critical COVID-19
death
Description

We seek to determine if race and ethnicity are associated with health outcomes among persons hospitalized with COVID-19, after adjusting for relevant risk factors. This study will also evaluate race and ethnicity trends and the impact of race and ethnicity on COVID-19 outcomes in patients less than 65 years old, a population that has not been well characterized.

Epidemiologic data indicate that communities of color continue to be disproportionally impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with members of Hispanic, American Indian, and non-Hispanic Black populations three times more likely to be hospitalized and die of COVID-19 than members of White and Asian populations (1,2). Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also show that although Black and Hispanic individuals account for 13.4% and 18.5% of the U.S. population respectively (3), they account for almost 17% and 28% of COVID-19 cases, and 21% and 16% of COVID-19 deaths(4). These findings have emerged despite race and ethnicity data not being consistently captured at the county, state, and national levels.


Our specific aims are as follows:

Evaluate the association between race and ethnicity and COVID-19 critical disease and in-hospital death among patients overall and under 65-year-old hospitalized for COVID-19.

  • To evaluate the association between race and ethnicity with critical COVID-19 disease among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 after adjusting for demographic and clinical risk factors.
  • To evaluate the association between race and ethnicity with in-hospital deaths among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 after adjusting for demographic and clinical risk factors.

 

Sources:

  1. Laboratory Confirmed COVID-19-Associated Hospitalizations. https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/COVIDNet/COVID19_3.html

  2. The Color of Coronavirus: COVID-19 Deaths by Race and Ethnicity in the U.S. https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race

  3. United States Census Bureau. Quick Facts. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219

  4. CDC COVID Data Tracker. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographics

 

This project is funded by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE).

Additional Details
FDA Center
CDER
Time Period
April 1, 2020 - March 31, 2021
Study Type
Modular Program
Assessment Type
Exploratory Analyses
Population / Cohort
All individuals hospitalized with COVID-19; individuals 65 years of age and younger hospitalized with COVID-19
Data Sources
Rapid COVID Sentinel Distributed Database
Related Links
FDA Sentinel System’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Activities
Workgroup Leader(s)

Sruthi Adimadhyam, PhD, MS; Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Adebola Ajao, PhD, MPH; Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 

Workgroup Members

Rebecca Hawrusik, MS; Andrew Petrone, MPH; Megan Hiley, MPH; Jolene Mosley, BA; Jen Thompson, MPP; Whitney Chlon, MPH; Elizabeth Siranosian, BA; Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Efe Eworuke, PhD, MSc; Danijela Stojanovic, PharmD, PhD; Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD

Hye Seung Lee, PhD; Office of Biometrics, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 

Caroline Jjingo, MD, MPH; Office of New Drug, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD

Jane Baumblatt, MD; Office of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD