Healthcare Disparities Correlated with In-Hospital Mortality in COVID-19 Patients.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Increasing age, male gender, African American race, and medical comorbidities have been reported as risk factors for COVID-19 mortality. We aimed to identify health-care disparities associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: We performed an observational study of all hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV2 infection from within the largest multicenter healthcare system in Southeast Michigan, from February to December, 2020. RESULTS: From 11,304 hospitalized patients, 1295 died, representing an in-hospital mortality rate of 11.5%. The mean age of hospitalized patients was 63.77 years-old, with 49.96% being males. Older age (AOR = 1.05, p < 0.0001), male gender (AOR = 1.43, p < 0.0001), divorced status (AOR = 1.25, p = 0.0256), disabled status (AOR = 1.42, p = 0.0091), and homemakers (AOR = 1.96, p = 0.0216) were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSION: Older age, male gender, divorced and disabled status and homemakers were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality if they developed COVID-19. Further research should aim to identify the underlying factors driving these disparities in COVID-19 in-hospital mortality.