Significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on race/ethnic differences in US mortality

Abstract

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic triggered global declines in life expectancy. The United States was hit particularly hard among high-income countries. Early data from the United States showed that these losses varied greatly by race/ethnicity in 2020, with Hispanic and Black Americans suffering much larger losses in life expectancy compared with White people. We add to this research by examining trends in lifespan inequality, average years of life lost, and the contribution of specific causes of death and ages to race/ethnic life-expectancy disparities in the United States from 2010 to 2020. We find that life expectancy in 2020 fell more for Hispanic and Black males (4.5 and 3.6 y, respectively) compared with White males (1.5 y). These drops nearly eliminated the previous life-expectancy advantage for the Hispanic compared with the White population, while dramatically increasing the already large gap in life expectancy between Black and White people. While the drops in life expectancy for the Hispanic population were largely attributable to official COVID-19 deaths, Black Americans saw increases in cardiovascular diseases and “deaths of despair” over this period. In 2020, lifespan inequality increased slightly for Hispanic and White populations but decreased for Black people, reflecting the younger age pattern of COVID-19 deaths for Hispanic people. Overall, the mortality burden of the COVID-19 pandemic hit race/ethnic minorities particularly hard in the United States, underscoring the importance of the social determinants of health during a public health crisis.

US Racial–Ethnic Mortality Gap Adjusted for Population Structure

“…In the case of Asian Americans, the mortality difference as measured by population structure-adjusted mortality gap (3.85) is more than triple the amount ∆e 0 indicates (1. 19), with respect to the loss of life from circulatory diseases.…”

The epidemiology of long COVID in US adults two years after the start of the US SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

“…However, our long COVID prevalence estimates align very well with that of the HPS survey. 6 Finally, COVID mortality has been shown to be higher among men (versus women), older (versus younger) people, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic people (versus non-Hispanic White people) and unvaccinated (versus vaccinated) people [31][32][33][34] , and estimates of the prevalence of long COVID may be impacted by selection of people who survived COVID, if people who died would have been more likely to go on to develop long COVID (survivorship bias).…”

“…The prevalence of ever having SARS-CoV-2 infection as of July 2022 was 52.7% (95% CI: 50.2-55.2%) (Table 3). The age-and sex-standardized prevalence of ever having SARS-CoV-2 infection was greatest among the youngest age groups (25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34) In adjusted models, women (versus men), respondents with comorbidities (versus not) and Black NH and API (versus White NH) respondents were less likely to ever have had COVID. Hispanic (versus White NH) respondents and respondents in older age groups (versus 25-34 year olds) were more likely to have ever had COVID.…”

Exploring COVID-19 Vaccine Attitudes among Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Communities: Community Partners’ and Residents’ Perspectives

“…SARS-CoV-2 infections, hospitalization, and mortality have disproportionately impacted Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities throughout the United States (US) [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black Americans are 1.7 times more likely to die and 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19 than White Americans [ 8 ].…”