Virginia Research Day 2022

Medical Student Research Cl inical

09 Investigating Potential Health Disparities In COVID-19 Outcomes In Virginia

Bruce Liberi; Theresa J. McCann Corresponding author: bliberi@vcom.edu

VCOM Virginia

hospitalization, and death) from COVID-19. With this information, the health districts in SWVA were aggregated and compared to the rest of the state using the outcomes of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death, adjusting for age group. Additional analyses for differences in these same outcomes of infection, hospitalization, and death between different SWVA Health Districts, also adjusting for age groups, were undertaken. Furthermore, understanding that minority populations were disproportionately affected by COVID-19, 1 separate analyses were performed adjusting for self-reported racial and ethnic identity under the existing framework created to compare regions. The purpose of this study is to identify and compare differences in COVID-19 outcomes between regions in Virginia to determine if there are associations between regions. It was hypothesized that there will be differences in outcomes between the State of Virginia and SWVA and that there will be differences in outcomes between regions in SWVA. If the regions demonstrate that there are no statistically significant associations in these

outcomes, the direction of differences will be assessed to determine if health disparities can be measured in these COVID-19 outcomes. References Mackey K, Ayers CK, Kondo KK, et al. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19-Related Infections, Hospitalizations, and Deaths: A Systematic Review. Ann Intern Med. 2021;174(3):362-373. doi:10.7326/M20-6306 Sherbuk JE, Knick TK, Canan C, et al. Development of an Interdisciplinary Telehealth Model of Provider Training and Comprehensive Care for Hepatitis C and Opioid Use Disorder in a High-Burden Region. J Infect Dis. 2020;222(Suppl 5):S354-S364. doi:10.1093/ infdis/jiaa141 U.S. Appalachian Regional Health Commission. Health Disparities in Appalachia. August 2017. Accessed December 8, 2021. https://www. arc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Health_ Disparities_in_Appalachia_August_2017.pdf

The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) has reportedly exacerbated preexisting health disparities across the United States. 1 Residents of Southwest Virginia (SWVA), here defined as the following Virginia Department of Health Districts, Alleghany, Central Virginia, Mount Rogers, Cumberland Plateau, Pittsylvania- Danville, New River, West Piedmont, Lenowisco, and Roanoke, have historically had worse health outcomes than other parts of the state 2 and a higher burden of chronic disease. 3 Other authors have suggested underlying health care disparities such as deficient access to care and geographic isolation contribute to the worse health outcomes associated with SWVA. To better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has specifically impacted SWVA, datasets obtained through the Virginia Department of Health’s Open Data Portal were evaluated to investigate and quantify differences in COVID-19 outcomes. Using these anonymized, state-wide datasets, individuals included in the Virginia Department of Health District’s registry were organized by age, self-reported racial and ethnic groups, and outcomes (infection,

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