The Role of Poverty and Racial Discrimination in Exacerbating the Health Consequences of COVID-19.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35018358.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1016/j.lana.2021.100178 and PMC identifier 8739518.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
There were more than 800,000 confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths in the United States (U.S) by the end of 2021. The health consequences of COVID-19, however, have not affected all residents equally. In this review, we synthesize recent evidence suggesting that high levels of poverty in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries, as well as historic and ongoing racial/ethnic discrimination, have exacerbated the health consequences of COVID-19, particularly for racial/ethnic minorities. We discuss four mechanisms through which poverty and discrimination affect COVID-19-related health consequences: greater pre-existing health challenges, reduced access to healthcare, lower-quality neighbourhood and housing conditions, and unequal exposure to high-risk occupations. Evidence suggests that economic and policy institutions that contributed to higher pre-pandemic poverty rates in the U.S., particularly among racial/ethnic minorities, have been central determinants of unequal health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.