Patterns of COVID-19 testing and mortality by race and ethnicity among United States veterans: A  nationwide cohort study

by Christopher T. Rentsch, Farah Kidwai-Khan, Janet P. Tate, Lesley S. Park, Joseph T. King Jr, Melissa Skanderson, Ronald G. Hauser, Anna Schultze, Christopher I. Jarvis, Mark Holodniy, Vincent Lo Re III, Kathleen M. Akg ün, Kristina Crothers, Tamar H. Taddei, Matthew S. Freiberg, Amy C. Justice BackgroundThere is growing concern that racial and ethnic minority communities around the world are experiencing a disproportionate burden of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We investigated racial and ethnic disparities in patterns of COVID-19 testing (i.e., who received testing and who tested positive) and subsequent mortality in the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States. Methods and findingsThis retrospective cohort study included 5,834,543 individuals receiving care in the US Department of Veterans Affairs; most (91%) were men, 74% were non-Hispanic White (White), 19% were non-Hispanic Black (Black), and 7% were Hispanic. We evaluated associations between race/ethnicity and receipt of COVID-19 testing, a positive test result, and 30-day mortality, with multivariable adjustment for a wide range of demographic and clinical characteristics including comorbid conditions, health behaviors, medication history, site of care, and urban versus rural residence. Between February 8 and July 22, 2020, 254,595 individuals were tested for COVID-19, of whom 16,317 tested positive and 1,057 died. B...
Source: PLoS Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Source Type: research