The Unequal Burden of the Covid-19 Pandemic: Racial/Ethnic Disparities in US Cause-Specific Mortality

Abstract

ABSTRACTObjectivesTo quantify changes in all-cause and cause-specific mortality by race and ethnicity between 2019 and 2020.MethodsUsing 2019 and 2020 provisional death counts from the National Center for Health Statistics and population estimates from the US Census Bureau, we estimate age-standardized death rates by race/ethnicity and attribute changes in mortality to various causes of death. We also examine how patterns of change across racial/ethnic groups vary by age and sex.ResultsCovid-19 death rates in 2020 were highest in the Hispanic community whereas Black individuals had the largest increase in all-cause mortality between 2019 and 2020. Increases in mortality from heart disease, diabetes, and external causes of death accounted for the adverse trend in all-cause mortality within the Black population. Percentage increases in all-cause mortality were similar for men and women and for ages 25-64 and 65+ for Black and White populations, but increases were greatest for working-aged men among the Hispanic population.ConclusionsExamining increases in non-Covid-19 causes of death is essential for fully capturing both the direct and indirect impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on racial/ethnic mortality disparities.