Social Determinants and Indicators of COVID-19 Among Marginalized Communities: A Scientific Review and Call to Action for Pandemic Response and Recovery

Abstract

COVID-19 has placed massive socio-psychological, health, and economic burdens including deaths on countless lives; however, it has disproportionally impacted certain populations. Co-occurring Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) disparities and other underlying determinants have exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic. This literature review sought to (1) examine literature focused on SDoH and COVID-19 outcomes i.e., infectivity, hospitalization, and death rates among marginalized communities; and (2) identify SDoH disparities associated with COVID-19 outcomes. We searched electronic databases for studies published from October 2019 to October 2021. Studies that were selected were those intersecting SDoH indicators and COVID-19 outcomes and were conducted in the United States. Our review underscored the disproportionate vulnerabilities and adverse outcomes from COVID-19 that have impacted racial/ethnic minority communities and other disadvantaged groups (i.e. senior citizens, and displaced/homeless individuals). COVID-19 outcomes were associated with SDoH indicators i.e. race/ethnicity, poverty, median income level, housing density, housing insecurity, healthcare access, occupation, transportation/commuting patterns, education, air quality, food insecurity, old age, etc. Our review concluded with recommendations and a call to action to integrate SDoH indicators along with relevant health data when implementing intelligent solutions and intervention strategies to pandemic response/recovery among vulnerable populations.

Effects of the built environment and human factors on the spread of COVID-19: A systematic literature review

“…Some of them also have considered some urban factors such as urban morphology, density, housing, health facilities, urban services, and transportation on the spread of COVID-19 ( Hussein, 2022 ; Azuma et al, 2020 ; Alam and Sultana, 2021 ). Also, the effect of social variables such as ethnicity, poverty, health insurance, occupation, and socio-economic factors on the transmission of COVID-19 is reviewed in some studies ( Brakefield et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Overall, these literature reviews have focused on different aspects such as urban planning factors ( Hussein, 2022 ; Rojas-Rueda and Morales-Zamora, 2021 ; Harris et al, 2022 ), urbanization ( Wu, 2021 ), density ( Zhang and Schwartz, 2020 ), transport and travel behavior features ( Shortall et al, 2021 , Shortall et al, 2022 ), environmental factors ( Azuma et al, 2020 ; Valsamatzi-Panagiotou and Penchovsky, 2022 ; Kumar et al, 2021 ; Weaver et al, 2022 ), smart city deployment ( Sharifi et al, 2021 ; Hassankhani et al, 2021 ), and social determinants of health ( Brakefield et al, 2022 ). These papers have discussed the driving factors of COVID-19 spread, how this pandemic has affected nature, settlements, and residents, and how urban planning can mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic.…”

Aging and the COVID-19 pandemic: The inter-related roles of biology, physical wellbeing, social norms and global health systems

“…Age and societal inequities (e.g., in healthcare access and socioeconomic circumstances) among populations may influence COVID-19 outcomes [17] , and it is possible that gender norms may further widen these disparities among the elderly. Initial reports indicated that 60 % of all COVID-19 patients were men, who were also at higher risk of developing systemic inflammation, multi-organ dysfunction, and cardiac injury, with viral shedding longer than women on average [18] .…”

Visual Preoperative Risk Depiction Tools for Shared Decision-making: A Pilot Study from the Surgeon’s Perspective

“…As demonstrated by press coverage, efforts to “flatten the curve” were limited by public cooperation, in part due to incomplete understanding of these risks. 7–10…”