Etiological and prognostic roles of socioeconomic characteristics in the development of SARS-CoV-2 infection and related severe health outcomes: systematic review of population-based studies
 
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1
Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) Institut de recherche santé et société (IRSS), Université catholique de Louvain, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Brussels, Belgium Belgium
 
2
Santé publique France
 
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Sciensano Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussel, Belgium / Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium Belgium
 
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Santé publique France Department of non-communicable diseases and injuries, Santé publique France, Saint-Maurice, Île-de-France, France France
 
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Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic
 
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Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic
 
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Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal / Área Disciplinar Autónoma de Bioestatística, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal Portugal
 
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National Directorate General for Hospitals Directorate for Project Management, National Directorate General for Hospitals, Budapest, Hungary
 
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Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain Spain
 
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Santé publique France Department of non-communicable diseases and injuries, Santé publique France, Saint-Maurice, Île-de-France, France
 
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Sciensano Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussel, Belgium / Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium Belgium
 
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Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal / Área Disciplinar Autónoma de Bioestatística, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal Portugal
 
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Instituto de Salud Carlos III, REDISSEC and RICAPPS National Center of Epidemiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, REDISSEC and RICAPPS, Madrid, Spain Spain
 
 
Publication date: 2023-04-26
 
 
Popul. Med. 2023;5(Supplement):A463
 
ABSTRACT
Background and Objective:
There is growing evidence on the role of biomedical factors and socioeconomic status in increasing vulnerability to COVID-19. We conducted a systematic review to investigate the etiological and prognostic roles of multimorbidity, frailty and socioeconomic determinants in COVID-19 outcomes severity among population-representative samples. This presentation focuses on socioeconomic determinants.

Methods:
The following databases were searched: PubMed, Embase, WHO COVID-19 Global literature on coronavirus disease and PsycINFO between January 2020 and 7th April 2021. For the etiological role of socioeconomic determinants, the following outcomes were of interest: infection, hospitalisation, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation and mortality. For the prognostic role, we investigated hospitalization for COVID-19, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, death, functional decline, quality of life, disability, mental health difficulties, work absence.

Results:
Out of 9 701 reviewed titles and 411 articles read in full-text, 78 studies reporting on socioeconomic characteristics met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final synthesis. 47 studies reported on the etiological role, 24 studies reported on the prognostic role, and 7 reported on both. No studies reported on long term effects of socioeconomic determinants. Only short term COVID-19 related outcomes, such as COVID-19 infections, mortality, ICU admission, hospitalization etc. were identified. Data was often retrieved using administrative and hospital records. The evidence suggests that worse health outcomes were often seen in black and Asian populations, and associated with lower education level and higher deprivation score. Most of the studies cover populations in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Conclusions:
The risk of severe short-term COVID-19 outcomes increase with socioeconomic vulnerability and among certain ethnic groups. There is a need for more evidence on the role of socioeconomic characteristics in short-term and long-term COVID-19 outcomes in other European, Asian and African countries. Future research should target specific races and ethnic groups.

ISSN:2654-1459
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