Studying the social determinants of COVID-19 in a data vacuum

Abstract

The Canadian government has no plans to release data on the race or socioeconomic status of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, whether COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting certain sociodemographic groups in Canada is unknown. We fill this data void by merging publicly available COVID-19 data with tabular census data to identify risk factors rendering certain geographic areas more vulnerable to COVID-19 infections and deaths. We combine insights obtained from this analysis with information on the socio-demographic profiles of smaller geographic units to predict and display the incidence of COVID-19 infections and deaths in these locales. Like in the U.S., COVID-19 has disproportionately affected black and immigrant communities in Canada. COVID-19 death tolls are also higher in Canadian communities with higher shares of older adults.

„Health in All Policies“ und gesundheitliche Chancengleichheit: COVID-19 als Fallstudie

“…Kurz: auch bei Infektionskrankheiten führt eine ungleiche Verteilung der sozialen Determinanten zu ungleichen Gesundheitschancen. Erste empirische Befunde legen nahe, dass dieser Effekt auch bei COVID-19 aufgetreten ist [5][6][7]. Studien aus Großbritannien berichten beispielsweise von höheren Infektionsraten bei Menschen mit niedriger Bildung [8] und von höheren COVID-19 Hospitalisierungsraten bei Menschen mit geringem Einkommen [9].…”

Neighborhood SES and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The health, social, and financial costs of the COVID-19 pandemic have not been shared equally across populations and neighborhoods. Recent studies show that in many countries, COVID-19 infection and death rates are higher among residents of lower-income neighborhoods than their peers living in more affluent neighborhoods (Borjas 2020;Choi et al 2020). In many ways, this disparity is not surprising.…”

“…Physical infrastructure of neighborhoods may also contribute to the differential risks of contracting COVID-19 among their residents (Choi et al 2020;Rocklov & Sjodin 2020). Lowerincome neighborhoods are more densely populated, making it more difficult for residents to effectively practice physical distancing (Rocklov & Sjodin, 2020).…”

“…Our findings can inform public health policies that distribute amenities and services and that aim to reduce health disparities across neighborhoods. Our study also focuses on COVID-19 trajectories, in contrast with most prior work on the neighborhood-level social determinants of COVID-19 that focuses on cumulative counts at a single point in time (Borjas 2020;Choi et al, 2020, Yang et al, 2020. 1 In Canada, COVID-19 data is tallied for provinces or health regions.…”

“…These differences, however, remain statistically significant.Disparities in socio-demographic composition also contribute to the faster pace of spread of COVID-19 in poorer neighborhoods (Panel C). COVID-19 spread faster in lower-income neighborhoods partially because higher shares of its residents are Black and foreign-borngroups who have been particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic(Choi et al, 2020;…”