Jones, Robert B.

AbstractCOVID‐19 has disproportionately affected low‐income communities and people of color. Previous studies demonstrated that race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) are not independently correlated with COVID‐19 mortality. The purpose of our study is to determine the effect of race/ethnicity and SES on COVID‐19 30‐day mortality in a diverse, Philadelphian population. This is a retrospective cohort study in a single‐center tertiary care hospital in Philadelphia, PA. The study includes adult patients hospitalized with polymerase‐chain‐reaction‐confirmed COVID‐19 between March 1, 2020 and June 6, 2020. The primary outcome was a composite of COVID‐19 death or hospice discharge within 30 days of discharge. The secondary outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The study included 426 patients: 16.7% died, 3.3% were discharged to hospice, and 20.0% were admitted to the ICU. Using multivariable analysis, race/ethnicity was not associated with the primary nor secondary outcome. In Model 4, age greater than 75 (odds ratio [OR]: 11.01; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.96–61.97) and renal disease (OR: 2.78; 95% CI: 1.31–5.90) were associated with higher odds of the composite primary outcome. Living in a “very‐low‐income area” (OR: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.12–0.71) and body mass index (BMI) 30–35 (OR: 0.24; 95% CI: 0.08–0.69) were associated with lower odds of the primary outcome. When controlling for demographics, SES, and comorbidities, race/ethnicity was not independently associated with the composite primary outcome. Very‐low SES, as extrapolated from census‐tract‐level income data, was associated with lower odds of the composite primary outcome.