Journal
ANNALS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 73, Issue -, Pages 22-29Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2022.06.004
Keywords
Health disparities; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Race; Ethnicity; Social determinants of health; Veterans; Time
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The study examined the impact of social risk factors on SARS-CoV-2 infection among US Veterans over the first 12 months of the pandemic. It found that larger household size was a persistent risk factor, and the association between county-level population density and infection risk varied during the pandemic.
Purpose: Marginalized communities have been disproportionally impacted by SARS-CoV-2. How the as-sociations between social determinants of health and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection shifted across time is unknown. In this evaluation, we examine individual-level social determinants of health as social risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection across the first 12 months of the pandemic among US Veterans. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of 946,358 Veterans who sought testing or treat-ment for SARS-CoV-2 infection in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities. We estimated risk ratios for testing positive by social risk factors, adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and time. Adjusted models were stratified by pandemic phase to assess temporal fluctuations in social risks. Results: Approximately 19% of Veterans tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Larger household size was a per-sistent risk factor and this association increased over time. Early in the pandemic, lower county-level population density was associated with lower SARS-CoV-2 infection risk, but between June 1 and August 31, 2020, this trend reversed. Conclusions: Temporal fluctuations in social risks associated with Veterans' SARS-CoV-2 infection suggest the need for ongoing, real-time tracking as the social and medical environment continues to evolve. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available