In a recently released study in JAMA Network Open, Dr. Mary T. Bassett and Dr. Justin Feldman examine “Variation in COVID-19 Mortality in the US by Race and Ethnicity and Educational Attainment.”
In the cross-sectional study of 219.1 million adults aged 25 years or older, most racial and ethnic minority populations had higher age-adjusted mortality rates than non-Hispanic White populations, including when comparing within levels of educational attainment. If all racial and ethnic populations had experienced the same mortality rates as college-educated non-Hispanic White populations, 71% fewer deaths among racial and ethnic minority populations would have occurred.
This study suggests that public health research and practice should attend to the ways in which populations that share socioeconomic characteristics may still experience racial and ethnic inequity in COVID-19 mortality rates.