Working Paper: NBER ID: w27294
Authors: Emily E. Wiemers; Scott Abrahams; Marwa Alfakhri V; Joseph Hotz; Robert F. Schoeni; Judith A. Seltzer
Abstract: This paper provides the first nationally representative estimates of vulnerability to severe com-plications from COVID-19 overall and across race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status. We use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to examine the prevalence of specific health condi-tions associated with complications from COVID-19 and to calculate, for each individual, an index of the risk of severe complications from respiratory infections developed by DeCaprio et al. (2020). We show large disparities across race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status in the prev-alence of conditions which are associated with the risk of severe complications from COVID-19. Moreover, we show that these disparities emerge early in life, prior to age 65, leading to higher vulnerability to such complications. While vulnerability is highest among older adults regardless of their race-ethnicity or socioeconomic status, our results suggest particular attention should also be given to the risk of adverse outcomes in midlife for non-Hispanic Blacks, adults with a high school degree or less, and low-income Americans.
Keywords: COVID-19; health disparities; vulnerability index; socioeconomic status; race/ethnicity
JEL Codes: I1; I14; I24; J1; J11; J14
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| preexisting health conditions (I12) | vulnerability to severe complications from covid19 (I14) |
| specific health conditions (hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity) (I12) | likelihood of severe outcomes from covid19 (I12) |
| low education (high school education or less) (I21) | vulnerability to severe complications from covid19 (I14) |
| low income (lowest income quartile) (I32) | vulnerability to severe complications from covid19 (I14) |
| disparities in preexisting health conditions (I14) | disparities in hospitalization rates (I14) |