Researchers used the CDC Social Vulnerability Index to identify U.S. poor and diverse communities and AHA’s COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry for data on 20,925 infected adults admitted Jan. 14 to Nov. 30, 2020, to 107 hospitals.
Key findings:
- Of the hospitalized patients, 6,083 (29.1 percent) lived in the most deprived U.S. communities, the highest quartile of the social vulnerability index.
- Patients living in poorer areas were more likely to have major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, strokes, and new-onset heart failure and in-hospital death.
- Patients in the highest quartile were younger, more likely to be women and Black and less likely to have private health insurance.
