*Blacks and Hispanics are allegedly more likely to develop lasting symptoms after a bout with COVID, according to a new study.
The study funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) initiative analyzed data from 29,331 white patients, 12,638 Black patients and 20,370 Hispanic patients in New York City who had been diagnosed with COVID between March 2020 and October 2021. The study found that after the Black and Hispanic patients recovered from the illness, they continued to experience ongoing symptoms.
Per the study, “Black patients had higher odds of experiencing developing blood clots in the lungs or being diagnosed with diabetes after COVID-19 than white patients. Hispanic patients had higher odds of having headaches or chest pain than white patients. White patients had higher odds of abnormal brain function or damage to the brain.”
“Among patients with COVID-19 who were not hospitalized, Hispanic patients had greater odds of developing new symptoms affecting six of the eight symptom categories than white patients,” per the study.
READ MORE: Study Warns of Danger of Catching COVID-19 Over and Over Again
“Identifying potential racial and ethnic disparities in long COVID is an important step toward making sure we have an equitable response to the long-term consequences of coronavirus infection,” said lead author Dr. Dhruv Khullar, who is an assistant professor of Population Health Sciences and the Nanette Laitman Clinical Scholar in Healthcare Policy Research/Quality of Care Research at Weill Cornell Medicine and a hospitalist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Khullar said researchers were unable to explain “why there were differences in risk levels or symptoms among racial and ethnic groups.”
“We hope our study encourages clinicians, researchers and policymakers to pay attention to potential differences in long COVID across racial and ethnic groups and to stimulate more research and discussion,” Khullar said.
“An important goal of our efforts is to shed light on inequities to improve the delivery of care across the country,” said Dr. Rainu Kaushal, senior associate dean for clinical research at Weill Cornell Medicine and chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Read the full study here
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
