IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0267116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Differential COVID-19 testing, admissions, and mortality for Arab Americans in Southern California

Author

Listed:
  • Nadia N Abuelezam
  • Kristina L Greenwood
  • Sandro Galea
  • Raed Al-Naser

Abstract

Background: Understanding of COVID-19 acquisition and severity risk in minoritized groups is limited by data collection on race and ethnicity; very little is known about COVID-19 risk among Arab Americans in the United States. Purpose: To quantify whether Arab Americans in the El Cajon region of California experienced differential levels of SARS-CoV-2 infection, severity and mortality when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s electronic medical records. Patients were included in the study if they were: 18 years of age or older, tested for SARS-CoV-2, admitted for COVID-19 infection, or had COVID-19 listed as a cause of death between March 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021. The primary outcomes of interest were a positive COVID-19 test result, admission to the hospital due to COVID-19, and in hospital COVID-19 related mortality. Comparisons were made across racial/ethnic groups using chi-squared statistics and logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographics, comorbidities, and time from March 2020. Results: Arab Americans had greater odds of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 than non-Hispanic White (adjusted odds ratio, AOR: 3.83, 95% confidence interval, CI: 3.29, 4.46) and non-Hispanic Black (AOR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.91, 2.88) patients but lower odds of admission (AOR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.63) and in-hospital mortality (AOR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.65) than Hispanic patients. Conclusions: There were distinct patterns for COVID-19 infection, severity, and mortality for Arab Americans in Southern California. Without a dedicated ethnic identifier, COVID-19 disparities facing Arab Americans will continue to go undocumented.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadia N Abuelezam & Kristina L Greenwood & Sandro Galea & Raed Al-Naser, 2022. "Differential COVID-19 testing, admissions, and mortality for Arab Americans in Southern California," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(4), pages 1-10, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0267116
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267116
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0267116
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0267116&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0267116?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John, Dolly A. & de Castro, A.B. & Martin, Diane P. & Duran, Bonnie & Takeuchi, David T., 2012. "Does an immigrant health paradox exist among Asian Americans? Associations of nativity and occupational class with self-rated health and mental disorders," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2085-2098.
    2. Abraído-Lanza, A.F. & Dohrenwend, B.P. & Ng-Mak, D.S. & Turner, J.B., 1999. "The Latino mortality paradox: A test of the 'salmon bias' and healthy migrant hypotheses," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(10), pages 1543-1548.
    3. Osypuk, Theresa L. & Diez Roux, Ana V. & Hadley, Craig & Kandula, Namratha R., 2009. "Are immigrant enclaves healthy places to live? The Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 110-120, July.
    4. Jen’nan Read, 2013. "Measuring Ethnicity with U.S. Census Data: Implications for Mexicans and Arabs," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(4), pages 611-631, August.
    5. Kane, Jennifer B. & Teitler, Julien O. & Reichman, Nancy E., 2018. "Ethnic enclaves and birth outcomes of immigrants from India in a diverse U.S. state," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 67-75.
    6. Cagney, K.A. & Browning, C.R. & Wallace, D.M., 2007. "The Latino paradox in neighborhood context: The case of asthma and other respiratory conditions," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(5), pages 919-925.
    7. Ann M Navar & Stacey N Purinton & Qingjiang Hou & Robert J Taylor & Eric D Peterson, 2021. "The impact of race and ethnicity on outcomes in 19,584 adults hospitalized with COVID-19," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-12, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew Fenelon, 2017. "Rethinking the Hispanic Paradox: The Mortality Experience of Mexican Immigrants in Traditional Gateways and New Destinations," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 567-599, September.
    2. Bjornstrom, Eileen E.S. & Kuhl, Danielle C., 2014. "A different look at the epidemiological paradox: Self-rated health, perceived social cohesion, and neighborhood immigrant context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 118-125.
    3. Fernando Riosmena & Rebeca Wong & Alberto Palloni, 2013. "Migration Selection, Protection, and Acculturation in Health: A Binational Perspective on Older Adults," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 1039-1064, June.
    4. Li, Kelin & Wen, Ming & Henry, Kevin A., 2017. "Ethnic density, immigrant enclaves, and Latino health risks: A propensity score matching approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 44-52.
    5. Shell, Alyssa Marie & Peek, M. Kristen & Eschbach, Karl, 2013. "Neighborhood Hispanic composition and depressive symptoms among Mexican-descent residents of Texas City, Texas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 56-63.
    6. Matias Reus-Pons & Eva U. B. Kibele & Fanny Janssen, 2017. "Differences in healthy life expectancy between older migrants and non-migrants in three European countries over time," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(5), pages 531-540, June.
    7. Yanrong Qiu & Kaihuai Liao & Yanting Zou & Gengzhi Huang, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis on Research Regarding Residential Segregation and Health Based on CiteSpace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-21, August.
    8. Tse-Chuan Yang & Stephen A Matthews, 2015. "Death by Segregation: Does the Dimension of Racial Segregation Matter?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, September.
    9. Hongyun Fu & Mark VanLandingham, 2012. "Mental Health Consequences of International Migration for Vietnamese Americans and the Mediating Effects of Physical Health and Social Networks: Results From a Natural Experiment Approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 393-424, May.
    10. Samari, Goleen & Catalano, Ralph & Alcalá, Héctor E. & Gemmill, Alison, 2020. "The Muslim Ban and preterm birth: Analysis of U.S. vital statistics data from 2009 to 2018," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    11. John Gibson & Steven Stillman & David McKenzie & Halahingano Rohorua, 2013. "Natural Experiment Evidence On The Effect Of Migration On Blood Pressure And Hypertension," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(6), pages 655-672, June.
    12. Touma, Fatima & Hummer, Robert A., 2022. "Race/ethnicity, immigrant generation, and physiological dysregulation among U.S. adults entering midlife," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    13. Morey, Brittany N. & Garcia, Samantha & Lin, Katherine & Canchola, Alison J. & Alexeeff, Stacey E. & Kurtovich, Elaine M. & Uong, Stephen & Aoki, Rhonda-Lee F. & Guan, Alice & Torres, Jacqueline M. & , 2024. "A validation study for measuring Asian- and Hispanic-serving sociocultural institutions in neighborhoods using business listing data and potential implications for health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    14. Ilyana Kuziemko & Katherine Meckel & Maya Rossin-Slater, 2013. "Do Insurers Risk-Select Against Each Other? Evidence from Medicaid and Implications for Health Reform," NBER Working Papers 19198, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Francisco Díaz Bretones & Aditya Jain & Stavroula Leka & Pedro A. García-López, 2020. "Psychosocial Working Conditions and Well-Being of Migrant Workers in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-15, April.
    16. Kontos, Emily Z. & Emmons, Karen M. & Puleo, Elaine & Viswanath, K., 2011. "Determinants and beliefs of health information mavens among a lower-socioeconomic position and minority population," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 22-32, July.
    17. Wubin Xie & John Sandberg & Elanah Uretsky & Yuantao Hao & Cheng Huang, 2022. "Parental Migration and Children’s Early Childhood Development: A Prospective Cohort Study of Chinese Children," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(1), pages 29-58, February.
    18. Daniel Powers, 2013. "Paradox Revisited: A Further Investigation of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Infant Mortality by Maternal Age," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(2), pages 495-520, April.
    19. Andrasfay, Theresa & Goldman, Noreen, 2020. "Physical functioning and survival: Is the link weaker among Latino and black older adults?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    20. Brewer, Mackenzie & Kimbro, Rachel Tolbert, 2014. "Neighborhood context and immigrant children's physical activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 1-9.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0267116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.