A study has found that racial and ethnic inequities in mortality in the United States changed drastically with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and inequities persist for some demographic groups.
The ongoing pandemic emerged against a backdrop of longstanding structural racism and resulting mortality disparities. Relatively little is known about how such inequities evolved over time, how different racial and ethnic groups were affected and whether disparities have returned to pre-pandemic levels or established a new baseline.
Mathew Kiang and colleagues analyzed the dynamics of all-cause mortality in the United States from January 2018 through February 2022 for seven racial and ethnic populations. After the pandemic emerged, relative mortality disadvantages increased for American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders and Black individuals.
Further, relative mortality advantages declined for Asian and Hispanic groups. Relative disparities were extreme during COVID-19 surges. Two years after the pandemic started, mortality inequities remained exacerbated above pre-pandemic levels for American Indian and Alaska Native individuals and for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, driven by a worsening of extreme disparities in mortality among those less than 65 years of age.
According to the authors, the mortality disparities underscore the need for short-term and long-term interventions.
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