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. 2022 Mar-Apr;137(2):317-325.
doi: 10.1177/00333549211061313. Epub 2021 Dec 30.

Disaggregating Asian Race Reveals COVID-19 Disparities Among Asian American Patients at New York City's Public Hospital System

Roopa Kalyanaraman Marcello  1 , Johanna Dolle  1 , Areeba Tariq  1 , Sharanjit Kaur  1 , Linda Wong  2 , Joan Curcio  2 , Rosy Thachil  3 , Stella S Yi  4 , Nadia Islam  4
Affiliations

Disaggregating Asian Race Reveals COVID-19 Disparities Among Asian American Patients at New York City's Public Hospital System

Roopa Kalyanaraman Marcello et al. Public Health Rep. 2022 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Objectives: Data on the health burden of COVID-19 among Asian American people of various ethnic subgroups remain limited. We examined COVID-19 outcomes of people of various Asian ethnic subgroups and other racial and ethnic groups in an urban safety net hospital system.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 85 328 adults aged ≥18 tested for COVID-19 at New York City's public hospital system from March 1 through May 31, 2020. We examined COVID-19 positivity, hospitalization, and mortality, as well as demographic characteristics and comorbidities known to worsen COVID-19 outcomes. We conducted adjusted multivariable regression analyses examining racial and ethnic disparities in mortality.

Results: Of 9971 Asian patients (11.7% of patients overall), 48.2% were South Asian, 22.2% were Chinese, and 29.6% were in other Asian ethnic groups. South Asian patients had the highest rates of COVID-19 positivity (30.8%) and hospitalization (51.6%) among Asian patients, second overall only to Hispanic (32.1% and 45.8%, respectively) and non-Hispanic Black (27.5% and 57.5%, respectively) patients. Chinese patients had a mortality rate of 35.7%, highest of all racial and ethnic groups. After adjusting for demographic characteristics and comorbidities, only Chinese patients had significantly higher odds of mortality than non-Hispanic White patients (odds ratio = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.04-2.01).

Conclusions: Asian American people, particularly those of South Asian and Chinese descent, bear a substantial and disproportionate health burden of COVID-19. These findings underscore the need for improved data collection and reporting and public health efforts to mitigate disparities in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality among these groups.

Keywords: Asian Americans; COVID-19; coronavirus; health disparities; immigrants.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.
COVID-19 outcomes among adult (aged ≥18) patients tested for SARS-CoV-2, by race and ethnicity, at New York City Health + Hospitals, March 1–May 31, 2020. Rates are unadjusted. Abbreviation: NH, non-Hispanic.
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