May 28, 2020

expert reaction to study on hospitalisation and mortality among black and white patients with COVID-19

A study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), reports on hospitalisation and mortality among black and white patients with COVID-19.

Prof Seif Shaheen, Professor of Respiratory Epidemiology, Queen Mary University of London, said:

“This paper from the USA reports an excess risk of hospitalisation with COVID-19 for Black patients versus Whites, which was not explained by comorbidities or obesity. Whilst the study also took account of some measures of socioeconomic deprivation (residence in low income area and type of health insurance), there could still be residual confounding by social factors, such as educational level and overcrowding in the home. Other factors which might explain excess risk in Blacks include smoking, vitamin D deficiency and occupation (especially public-facing jobs) – none of these factors were controlled for in the analyses because the study only had information obtained from electronic hospital records, which is a limitation. Studies with more comprehensive data on risk factors are needed to fully address the apparently greater risk of severe COVID-19 in ethnic minorities, and also to establish whether these groups are more at risk of being infected in the first place.”

“Hospitalization and mortality among black patients and white patients with COVID-19” by Eboni G. Price Haywood et al. was published in NEJM on 27 May

All our previous output on this subject can be seen at this weblink:

www.sciencemediacentre.org/tag/covid-19

Declared interests

Prof Seif Shaheen:  I have no conflicts of interest to declare.