The team discovered that black and mixed-race patients were three times more likely to require hospitalization after contracting COVID-19 than white patients in the same area of London.
After adjusting the data to account for other factors, such as known COVID-19 comorbidities and socioeconomic deprivation, the authors still found that Black and mixed-race patients were 2.2 to 2.7 times more likely to need hospitalization compared to white people.
Once in the hospital, the authors found no significant differences in survival rates between black and mixed-ethnicity patients and white patients.
In contrast, the study authors found that people of Asian descent did not have a higher risk of hospitalization for COVID-19. However, they did show a higher rate of admission to intensive care units and higher mortality rates from the disease.
The research suggests that ethnicity likely influences the evolution of COVID-19 in ways that are not yet understood.
This may be due to genetic differences, but it could also be a consequence of behavioral differences or aspects of structural racism that are not taken into account when considering only socioeconomic background.
According to Professor Ajay Shah, lead author and British Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiology at King’s College London, “it is surprising to find that black and Asian patients are affected in very different ways, and that the significant risk persists even after adjusting for deprivation and long-term health conditions.”
“This strongly suggests that other factors, possibly biological, are important and that we may need different treatment strategies for different ethnic groups. For Black patients, the issue might be how to prevent a mild infection from progressing to a severe one, while for Asian patients, it might be how to treat life-threatening complications,” adds Professor Shah.
