Race, socioeconomic deprivation, and hospitalization for COVID-19 in English participants of a national biobank.

Int J Equity Health
Authors
Abstract

Preliminary reports suggest that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic has led to disproportionate morbidity and mortality among historically disadvantaged populations. We investigate the racial and socioeconomic associations of COVID- 19 hospitalization among 418,794 participants of the UK Biobank, of whom 549 (0.13%) had been hospitalized. Both Black participants (odds ratio 3.7; 95%CI 2.5-5.3) and Asian participants (odds ratio 2.2; 95%CI 1.5-3.2) were at substantially increased risk as compared to White participants. We further observed a striking gradient in COVID- 19 hospitalization rates according to the Townsend Deprivation Index - a composite measure of socioeconomic deprivation - and household income. Adjusting for socioeconomic factors and cardiorespiratory comorbidities led to only modest attenuation of the increased risk in Black participants, adjusted odds ratio 2.4 (95%CI 1.5-3.7). These observations confirm and extend earlier preliminary and lay press reports of higher morbidity in non-White individuals in the context of a large population of participants in a national biobank. The extent to which this increased risk relates to variation in pre-existing comorbidities, differences in testing or hospitalization patterns, or additional disparities in social determinants of health warrants further study.

Year of Publication
2020
Journal
Int J Equity Health
Volume
19
Issue
1
Pages
114
Date Published
2020 Jul 06
ISSN
1475-9276
DOI
10.1186/s12939-020-01227-y
PubMed ID
32631328
Links
Grant list
T32HL007208 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
5U01HG009080 / National Institutes of Health Center for Multi- and Trans-ethnic Mapping of Mendelian and Complex Diseases
1K08HG010155 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States
5R01HG01014002 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States