1. Describing characteristics and treatment patterns of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 by race and ethnicity in a national RWD during the early months of the pandemic.
- Author
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Vititoe SE, Easthausen IJ, Lasky T, Chakravarty A, Bradley MC, Roe LM, Gatto NM, Weckstein AR, and Garry EM
- Subjects
- Azithromycin therapeutic use, Dexamethasone therapeutic use, Ethnicity, Humans, Hydroxychloroquine therapeutic use, SARS-CoV-2, United States, White People, COVID-19 epidemiology, Pandemics, COVID-19 Drug Treatment
- Abstract
Objective: To describe differences by race and ethnicity in treatment patterns among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the US from March-August 2020., Methods: Among patients in de-identified Optum electronic health record data hospitalized with COVID-19 (March-August 2020), we estimated odds ratios of receiving COVID-19 treatments of interest (azithromycin, dexamethasone, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, and other steroids) at hospital admission, by race and ethnicity, after adjusting for key covariates of interest., Results: After adjusting for key covariates, Black/African American patients were less likely to receive dexamethasone (adj. OR [95% CI]: 0.83 [0.71, 0.96]) and more likely to receive other steroids corticosteroids (adj. OR [95% CI]: 2.13 [1.90, 2.39]), relative to White patients. Hispanic/Latino patients were less likely to receive dexamethasone than Not Hispanic/Latino patients (adj. OR [95% CI]: 0.69 [0.58, 0.82])., Conclusions: Our findings suggest that COVID-19 treatments patients received in Optum varied by race and ethnicity after adjustment for other possible explanatory factors. In the face of rapidly evolving treatment landscapes, policies are needed to ensure equitable access to novel and repurposed therapeutics to avoid disparities in care by race and ethnicity., Competing Interests: The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following competing interests: Sarah Vititoe, Imaani Easthausen, Nicolle Gatto, Andrew R Weckstein, and Elizabeth M Garry received salaries from Aetion, Inc. via the Research Collaboration Agreement (RCA) between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Aetion. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. This paper reflects the views of the authors and should not be construed to represent FDA’s views or policies.
- Published
- 2022
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