Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Years of Potential Life Loss Among Patients With Cirrhosis During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Abstract

Our aim was to evaluate the impact of race/ethnicity on cirrhosis-related premature death during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS:We obtained cirrhosis-related death data (n 5 872,965, January 1, 2012-December 31, 2021) from the US National Vital Statistic System to calculate age-standardized mortality rates and years of potential life lost (YPLL) for premature death aged 25-64 years. RESULTS:Significant racial/ethnic disparity in cirrhosis-related age-standardized mortality rates was noted prepandemic but widened during the pandemic, with the highest excess YPLL for the non-Hispanic American Indian/American Native (2020: 41.0%; 2021: 68.8%) followed by other minority groups (28.7%-45.1%), and the non-Hispanic White the lowest (2020: 20.7%; 2021: 31.6%). COVID-19 constituted >30% of the excess YPLLs for Hispanic and non-Hispanic American Indian/American Native in 2020, compared with 11.1% for non-Hispanic White.

Trends in gynaecologic cancer mortality and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

“…Excess deaths were higher among non-Hispanic AI/AN women (88.134%), thought to be partly related to the lack of opportunities for remote work (i.e., higher risk of COVID-19 exposure) in this population [ 22 ]. Similarly, in our previous study [ 8 , 23 ] in chronic liver disease, excess deaths were high among non-Hispanic AI/AN populations due to less access to medical services.…”