TY - JOUR

T1 - Socioeconomic and demographic risk factors in COVID-19 hospitalization among immigrants and ethnic minorities

AU - Islamoska, Sabrina

AU - Petersen, Jørgen Holm

AU - Benfield, Thomas

AU - Norredam, Marie

N1 - © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - BACKGROUND: Immigrants and ethnic minorities have been shown to be at increased risk of hospitalization from COVID-19. Our aim was to analyse the contribution of socioeconomic and demographic risk factors on hospital admissions for COVID-19 among immigrants and ethnic minorities compared to the majority population.METHODS: We used nationwide register data on all hospitalized COVID-19 cases between February and June 2020 (N = 2232) and random controls from the general population (N = 498 117). We performed logistic regression analyses and adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity, and socioeconomic and demographic factors. The main outcome measure was hospitalization with COVID-19 and was estimated using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).RESULTS: Among 2232 COVID-19 cases, the OR of hospitalization with COVID-19 among immigrants and descendants of non-Western origin was 2.5 times higher (95% CI: 2.23-2.89) compared with individuals of Danish origin with most pronounced results among individuals from Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan and Somalia. The OR was largely attributed to comorbidity and socioeconomic factors, especially household size, occupation, and population density.CONCLUSION: There is a significantly higher OR of hospitalization with COVID-19 among non-Western immigrants and ethnic minorities compared with ethnic Danes. This knowledge is crucial for health policymakers and practitioners in both the current and future pandemics to identify more vulnerable groups and target prevention initiatives.

AB - BACKGROUND: Immigrants and ethnic minorities have been shown to be at increased risk of hospitalization from COVID-19. Our aim was to analyse the contribution of socioeconomic and demographic risk factors on hospital admissions for COVID-19 among immigrants and ethnic minorities compared to the majority population.METHODS: We used nationwide register data on all hospitalized COVID-19 cases between February and June 2020 (N = 2232) and random controls from the general population (N = 498 117). We performed logistic regression analyses and adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity, and socioeconomic and demographic factors. The main outcome measure was hospitalization with COVID-19 and was estimated using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).RESULTS: Among 2232 COVID-19 cases, the OR of hospitalization with COVID-19 among immigrants and descendants of non-Western origin was 2.5 times higher (95% CI: 2.23-2.89) compared with individuals of Danish origin with most pronounced results among individuals from Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan and Somalia. The OR was largely attributed to comorbidity and socioeconomic factors, especially household size, occupation, and population density.CONCLUSION: There is a significantly higher OR of hospitalization with COVID-19 among non-Western immigrants and ethnic minorities compared with ethnic Danes. This knowledge is crucial for health policymakers and practitioners in both the current and future pandemics to identify more vulnerable groups and target prevention initiatives.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Emigrants and Immigrants

KW - Ethnic and Racial Minorities

KW - Ethnicity

KW - Hospitalization

KW - Humans

KW - Risk Factors

KW - Socioeconomic Factors

U2 - 10.1093/eurpub/ckab186

DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckab186

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34718522

VL - 32

SP - 302

EP - 310

JO - European Journal of Public Health

JF - European Journal of Public Health

SN - 1101-1262

IS - 2

ER -