Patients in low-income, crowded and racially diverse communities had higher risk of adverse cardiovascular events and death when hospitalized for COVID-19, according to an abstract of preliminary study results set to be presented Nov. 13 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.
Researchers used the CDC Social Vulnerability Index to identify U.S. poor and diverse communities and AHA's COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry for data on 20,925 infected adults admitted Jan. 14 to Nov. 30, 2020, to 107 hospitals.
Key findings:
- Of the hospitalized patients, 6,083 (29.1 percent) lived in the most deprived U.S. communities, the highest quartile of the social vulnerability index.
- Patients living in poorer areas were more likely to have major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, strokes, and new-onset heart failure and in-hospital death.
- Patients in the highest quartile were younger, more likely to be women and Black and less likely to have private health insurance.