Potential Social Determinants of Health on COVID-19 Outbreaks

Keywords: Health Disparity, COVID-19, Social Determinants of Health, Socio-economic status
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 4

Abstract

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are multiple environmental conditions affecting health, well-being, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2021) defines SDOH with five key categories: economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. Neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) variables with very strong associations of COVID-19 cases (e.g., hospitalization and/or death rates) can become potential candidates of the social determinants of health on COVID-19. This study compared the neighborhood SES association results with COVID-19 cases in six U.S. cities (San Diego, Chicago, New York, Phoenix, Miami, and San Francisco Bay Area) at the Zip Code level using American Community Survey (ACS) data. We also compared the SES association results at two different spatial scales (County level units in California versus ZIP Code level units in San Diego). Two key research questions are: “Will different cities have similar or unique SES variable associations to COVID-19 outbreaks?”; “Which social determinants of health on COVID-19 are more universal in U.S. cities?” Once we identify these potential SDOH, Public Health researchers and practitioners can formalize hypotheses to study possible explanations and mechanisms behind their dynamically associations to COVID-19 outbreaks. Local public health agencies can use these findings to recommend appropriate social intervention approaches and to mitigate possible health disparity problems on COVID-19.