Representation of Race and Ethnicity in the Contemporary US Health Cohort All of Us Research Program.

Importance: To address systemic disparities in biomedical research, the All of Us (AoU) Research Program was created to identify the root causes and consequences of health outcomes in the US. However, the extent of AoU's racial and ethnic diversity is unknown. Objective: To quantify representation of key racial and ethnic groups in the accruing AoU nationwide health cohort and compare with their actual representation in the US. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study compared the AoU program from May 2017 to June 2022 for individuals 18 years and older with the Decennial Survey 2020 (DEC) collected by the US Census Bureau. Exposures: Representation of non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, non-Hispanic White, and uncategorized or multiple races in AoU. Main Outcomes and Measures: The extent of underrepresentation or overrepresentation of each racial group in the AoU program at both nationwide and state-level relative to DEC. Results: Of the 358 705 US adults in the AoU to date, individuals identified with the following race and ethnicity categories: 12 710 non-Hispanic Asian (3.5%), 73 348 non-Hispanic Black or African American (20.5%), 58 488 Hispanic or Latino (16.3%), 205 457 non-Hispanic White (57.3%), and 8702 uncategorized or reporting multiple categories (2.4%). Of 355 413 participants with available sex at birth and age data, 218 981 (61.6%) were female and had a mean (SD) age of 53.1 (17.0) years, 136 037 (38.28%) were male and had a mean (SD) age of 56.7 (17.0) years, and 395 reported nonbinary sex (0.1%), with a mean (SD) age of 55.4 (15.8) years. Compared with the referent US, non-Hispanic Black or African American individuals were overrepresented in the AoU by 8.73% (AoU, 20.5% [73 348 of 358 705] vs DEC, 11.7% [30 266 080 of 258 343 281]) and by relative scale, 1.94-fold. Non-Hispanic White individuals accounted for the greatest participation in the AoU with generally consistent dominance across all regions yet numerically underrepresented by absolute difference of -3.54% (95% CI, -3.70 to -3.38). Uncategorized or multiracial group in the AoU (2.4% [8702 of 358 705]) was 0.43-fold likely to be represented relative to the DEC (4.6% [11 922 096 of 258 343 281]) with an absolute difference of -2.19% (95% CI, -2.24 to -2.14). Moreover, non-Hispanic Asian individuals were underrepresented by -2.54% (95% CI, -2.60 to -2.48) prominently in most states. Individuals identifying as Hispanic or Latino were nominally underrepresented by -0.46% (95% CI, -0.58 to -0.34) (AoU, 16.3% [58 488 of 358 705] vs DEC, 16.8% [43 322 792 of 258 343 281]). Conclusions and Relevance: Recruitment trends for the ongoing AoU show relatively improved representation of some major race groups with geographic trends. These findings underscore the need to further tailor and augment recruitment and participation initiatives for diverse populations.

Race, socioeconomic deprivation, and hospitalization for COVID-19 in English participants of a national biobank.

Preliminary reports suggest that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic has led to disproportionate morbidity and mortality among historically disadvantaged populations. We investigate the racial and socioeconomic associations of COVID- 19 hospitalization among 418,794 participants of the UK Biobank, of whom 549 (0.13%) had been hospitalized. Both Black participants (odds ratio 3.7; 95%CI 2.5-5.3) and Asian participants (odds ratio 2.2; 95%CI 1.5-3.2) were at substantially increased risk as compared to White participants. We further observed a striking gradient in COVID- 19 hospitalization rates according to the Townsend Deprivation Index - a composite measure of socioeconomic deprivation - and household income. Adjusting for socioeconomic factors and cardiorespiratory comorbidities led to only modest attenuation of the increased risk in Black participants, adjusted odds ratio 2.4 (95%CI 1.5-3.7). These observations confirm and extend earlier preliminary and lay press reports of higher morbidity in non-White individuals in the context of a large population of participants in a national biobank. The extent to which this increased risk relates to variation in pre-existing comorbidities, differences in testing or hospitalization patterns, or additional disparities in social determinants of health warrants further study.

Race, Socioeconomic Deprivation, and Hospitalization for COVID-19 in English participants of a National Biobank.

Preliminary reports suggest that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to disproportionate morbidity and mortality among historically disadvantaged populations. The extent to which these disparities are related to socioeconomic versus biologic factors is largely unknown. We investigate the racial and socioeconomic associations of COVID-19 hospitalization among 418,794 participants of the UK Biobank, of whom 549 (0.13%) had been hospitalized. Both black participants (odds ratio 3.4; 95%CI 2.4-4.9) and Asian participants (odds ratio 2.1; 95%CI 1.5-3.2) were at substantially increased risk as compared to white participants. We further observed a striking gradient in COVID-19 hospitalization rates according to the Townsend Deprivation Index - a composite measure of socioeconomic deprivation - and household income. Adjusting for such factors led to only modest attenuation of the increased risk in black participants, adjusted odds ratio 3.1 (95%CI 2.0-4.8). These observations confirm and extend earlier preliminary and lay press reports of higher morbidity in non-white individuals in the context of a large population of participants in a national biobank. The extent to which this increased risk relates to variation in pre-existing comorbidities, differences in testing or hospitalization patterns, or additional disparities in social determinants of health warrants further study.