PMID- 37947543
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20231113
LR  - 20231117
IS  - 1660-4601 (Electronic)
IS  - 1661-7827 (Print)
IS  - 1660-4601 (Linking)
VI  - 20
IP  - 21
DP  - 2023 Oct 27
TI  - Association of Social Vulnerability and COVID-19 Mortality Rates in Texas between 
      15 March 2020, and 21 July 2022: An Ecological Analysis.
LID - 10.3390/ijerph20216985 [doi]
LID - 6985
AB  - BACKGROUND: Despite the key role of social vulnerability such as economic 
      disadvantage in health outcomes, research is limited on the impact of social 
      vulnerabilities on COVID-19-related deaths, especially at the state and county 
      level in the USA. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional ecologic analysis of 
      COVID-19 mortality by the county-level Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index 
      (MH SVI) and each of its components in Texas. Negative binomial regression (NBR) 
      analyses were used to estimate the association between the composite MH SVI (and 
      its components) and COVID-19 mortality. RESULTS: A 0.1-unit increase in the 
      overall MH SVI (IRR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.04-1.55; p = 0.017) was associated with a 
      27% increase in the COVID-19 mortality rate. Among the MH SVI component measures, 
      only low socioeconomic status (IRR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.28-1.89; p = 0.001) and 
      higher household composition (e.g., proportion of older population per county) 
      and disability scores (IRR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.29-1.68; p < 0.001) were positively 
      associated with COVID-19 mortality rates. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides 
      further evidence of disparities in COVID-19 mortality by social vulnerability and 
      can inform decisions on the allocation of social resources and services as a 
      strategy for reducing COVID-19 mortality rates and similar pandemics in the 
      future.
FAU - Nyachoti, Dennis Ogeto
AU  - Nyachoti DO
AD  - Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, Texas Department of State Health Services, 
      201 W Howard Ln, Austin, TX 78753, USA.
AD  - Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Community 
      Health Impact, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of 
      Public Health, 5130 Gateway Boulevard East MCA 110, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
FAU - Ranjit, Nalini
AU  - Ranjit N
AD  - Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas 
      Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, 1616 Guadalupe, Austin, 
      TX 78701, USA.
FAU - Ramphul, Ryan
AU  - Ramphul R
AD  - Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Sciences, The 
      University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, 
      1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
FAU - Whigham, Leah D
AU  - Whigham LD
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5376-8967
AD  - Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Community 
      Health Impact, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of 
      Public Health, 5130 Gateway Boulevard East MCA 110, El Paso, TX 79905, USA.
FAU - Springer, Andrew E
AU  - Springer AE
AD  - Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas 
      Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, 1616 Guadalupe, Austin, 
      TX 78701, USA.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20231027
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Int J Environ Res Public Health
JT  - International journal of environmental research and public health
JID - 101238455
SB  - IM
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Social Vulnerability
MH  - Texas/epidemiology
MH  - *COVID-19/epidemiology
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Health Status
PMC - PMC10647229
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - COVID-19
OT  - Coronavirus 2019
OT  - MH SVI
OT  - SARS-CoV-2
OT  - SVI
OT  - minority health
OT  - pandemics
COIS- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2023/11/10 12:45
MHDA- 2023/11/13 06:42
PMCR- 2023/10/27
CRDT- 2023/11/10 10:03
PHST- 2023/08/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/10/10 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/10/20 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/11/13 06:42 [medline]
PHST- 2023/11/10 12:45 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/11/10 10:03 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/10/27 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - ijerph20216985 [pii]
AID - ijerph-20-06985 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/ijerph20216985 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Oct 27;20(21):6985. doi: 
      10.3390/ijerph20216985.