Differential COVID-19 testing, admissions, and mortality for Arab Americans in Southern California

BACKGROUND: Understanding of COVID-19 acquisition and severity risk in minoritized groups is limited by data collection on race and ethnicity; very little is known about COVID-19 risk among Arab Americans in the United States. PURPOSE: To quantify whether Arab Americans in the El Cajon region of California experienced differential levels of SARS-CoV-2 infection, severity and mortality when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted using Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s electronic medical records. Patients were included in the study if they were: 18 years of age or older, tested for SARS-CoV-2, admitted for COVID-19 infection, or had COVID-19 listed as a cause of death between March 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021. The primary outcomes of interest were a positive COVID-19 test result, admission to the hospital due to COVID-19, and in hospital COVID-19 related mortality. Comparisons were made across racial/ethnic groups using chi-squared statistics and logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographics, comorbidities, and time from March 2020. RESULTS: Arab Americans had greater odds of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 than non-Hispanic White (adjusted odds ratio, AOR: 3.83, 95% confidence interval, CI: 3.29, 4.46) and non-Hispanic Black (AOR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.91, 2.88) patients but lower odds of admission (AOR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.63) and in-hospital mortality (AOR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.65) than Hispanic patients. CONCLUSIONS: There were distinct patterns for COVID-19 infection, severity, and mortality for Arab Americans in Southern California. Without a dedicated ethnic identifier, COVID-19 disparities facing Arab Americans will continue to go undocumented.