Systematic review of socioeconomic factors and COVID‐19 in children and adolescents

Abstract

AimTo systematically review the evidence on Covid‐19 infection risk, severity and vaccination uptake among children and adolescents by socioeconomic status.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature review, using the PubMed database. We searched for articles published from January 2020 to January 2022 using “MeSH” words and titles. The key terms were “COVID”, “social status”, “socioeconomic factor” and “children”. We also searched secondary sources such as published reports and other databases.ResultsThe search identified 15 relevant articles and reports. This review shows that children of lower socioeconomic status have a higher risk of COVID‐19 infection and a higher risk of being hospitalised. Mortality in a global setting was also higher in children with low socioeconomic status, though not observed in high‐resourced countries. These children are also less likely to be vaccinated against the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus.ConclusionsThe higher risk of COVID‐19 infection and hospitalisation and lower vaccination coverage in children and adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds demonstrate health disparities also in young age. These disparities should inform health authorities in planning for future pandemics.

Studying harms of interventions with an equity lens in randomized trials

“…Using vaccine uptake as an example, numerous studies have shown that elderly individuals face barriers in accessing vaccination centers despite being a high-risk group [25]. Additionally, socioeconomic factors such as education level and health literacy influence vaccination coverage [26,27]. Certain racial or ethnic groups may also experience disparities in vaccination rates due to mistrust [28][29][30].…”