COVID-19 in Patients with a Primary Refugee-Associated Language in a Kentucky Emergency Department During 2020

Joel Hamm; Meredith S. Duncan; Nicole M. Robertson; James W. Keck; Katherine Crabtree

doi:10.1007/s10903-022-01435-4

COVID-19 in Patients with a Primary Refugee-Associated Language in a Kentucky Emergency Department During 2020

Joel Hamm, Meredith S. Duncan, Nicole M. Robertson, James W. Keck, Katherine Crabtree

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

COVID-19 has heavily impacted the refugee population in the United States due to exposure risks, living and working conditions, and healthcare access, but little is known about outcomes. We reviewed emergency department visits to a Kentucky hospital among 2163 patients from March-December 2020, studying incidence of COVID-19 diagnosis for patients with a primary refugee-associated language compared to English speakers, and outcomes after diagnosis including hospitalization, length of stay, and in-hospital mortality. Patients in the population of interest had higher odds of COVID-19 diagnosis in the hospital (OR = 12.31, 95% CI 7.80–19.40), but, among those with COVID-19, lower odds of hospital admission (OR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.37–0.90) and shorter median length of stay (4.1 vs. 10.5 days) compared to English speakers. The study corroborates reports of comparatively higher COVID-19 incidence in patients speaking a primary refugee-associated language, but implies milder illness severity, possibly reflecting this population’s baseline health.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	728-732
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume	25
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01435-4
State	Published - Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Nicholas Jewell PhD assisted in the early planning of this project. Sources of Support include UK Center for Health Equity and Transformation, UK Center for Clinical and Translational Science, the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences through grant number UL1TR001998 and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant number KL2TR001996. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

COVID-19
Emergency department
Foreign language
Refugee

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Epidemiology
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/s10903-022-01435-4

Cite this

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abstract = "COVID-19 has heavily impacted the refugee population in the United States due to exposure risks, living and working conditions, and healthcare access, but little is known about outcomes. We reviewed emergency department visits to a Kentucky hospital among 2163 patients from March-December 2020, studying incidence of COVID-19 diagnosis for patients with a primary refugee-associated language compared to English speakers, and outcomes after diagnosis including hospitalization, length of stay, and in-hospital mortality. Patients in the population of interest had higher odds of COVID-19 diagnosis in the hospital (OR = 12.31, 95% CI 7.80–19.40), but, among those with COVID-19, lower odds of hospital admission (OR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.37–0.90) and shorter median length of stay (4.1 vs. 10.5 days) compared to English speakers. The study corroborates reports of comparatively higher COVID-19 incidence in patients speaking a primary refugee-associated language, but implies milder illness severity, possibly reflecting this population{\textquoteright}s baseline health.",

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COVID-19 in Patients with a Primary Refugee-Associated Language in a Kentucky Emergency Department During 2020

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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