The association between neighbourhood marginalization and SARS-CoV-2 outcomes in patients presenting to emergency departments
What is the Goal?
Improving healthcare and fixing system problems requires addressing health equity. If health equity is ignored, efforts to improve quality can unintentionally make gaps between groups even worse and may fail to improve health for everyone. To improve health outcomes, we must understand the social determinants that negatively impact health.
The objective of this study was to describe the relationship between neighbourhood marginalization and COVID-19 outcomes among patients presenting to Canadian emergency departments.
Key Findings
People living in neighbourhoods with more recent immigrants, fewer people working, and less stable housing were less likely to go to the emergency department with severe COVID-19. However, people from neighbourhoods facing higher levels of material disadvantage were more likely to die once they were hospitalized.
Why It Matters
Despite no association with severe COVID-19 at ED presentation, the only marginalization domain associated with in-hospital mortality was material deprivation. Our findings present insights on ED-seeking behaviour, hospital access, and care that population studies could not.
Where can I Learn More?
- Authors
- Ivy Cheng, Rhonda J. Rosychuk, David Seonguk Yeom, Ray L. Jewett, Iwona A. Bielska, Jake Hayward, Jaspreet Khangura, Rohit Mohindra, Megan Landes, Jeffrey P. Hau, Christiaan H. Righolt, Murdoch Leeies, Jennifer Grant, Steven C. Brooks & Corinne M. Hohl For the Canadian COVID-19 Emergency Department Rapid Response Network (CCEDRRN) Investigators