Actual Racial/Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality for the Non-Hispanic Black Compared to Non-Hispanic White Population in 353 US Counties and Their Associations with Structural Racism

In this paper, the authors quantify the racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 mortality between the non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White populations at the county level by estimating age-adjusted, race-specific death rates. The authors explore the relationships between five different measures of structural racism and the magnitude of the observed racial disparities in COVID-19 mortality rates across counties. This research advances the existing literature by (1) quantifying racial disparities in COVID-19 mortality at the county level; (2) presenting age-adjusted estimates of race-specific COVID-19 death rates at the county level; and (3) exploring the potential role of a variety of measures of structural racism in explaining differences in the magnitude of the observed racial disparities in COVID-19 mortality across counties.

Resource Details

• Population: Black or African American
• Topics of Practice: Data Collection and Analysis
• Outcomes of Interest: Advancing Racial Equity
• Level of Evidence: Emerging
• Tools or Materials Included in Resource: No
• Social Determinants of Health: Social and Community Context
• Outside of US: No