Pandemic might have led to health inequalities among ethnic groups, study finds

According to a recent study, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing health inequities among ethnic minorities with diabetes.

After exposing a rise in health inequities, academics from the University of Leicester are pushing care agencies to address the disproportionate impact of the epidemic on people from ethnic minority backgrounds. The team of researchers from the UK and the US analysed the bigger structural hurdles in society that placed ethnic minorities with diabetes at a higher risk of catastrophic COVID-19 outcomes in this study.

Structured imbalances in appropriate housing, food, education, career prospects, and neighbourhood services are among these hurdles.

These obstacles, according to this exhaustive analysis, are critical health factors for persons with diabetes or COVID-19, particularly those in high-risk communities like as ethnic minorities.

The researchers discovered that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to have severe coronavirus outcomes due to differences in comorbid conditions (the presence of one or more additional conditions that frequently co-occur with a primary condition), exposure risk, and access to treatment.

Previous academic research have neglected to address larger systemic concerns that might contribute to health disparities among people of colour.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East Midlands and the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre funded the study.

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Professor Kamlesh Khunti CBE, Director of NIHR ARC East Midlands and the Real World Evidence Unit and Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester, lead author of the review, said: “Diabetes is a risk factor for severe COVID-19, and the combination of these ethnic disparities may have contributed to the inequality of coronavirus outcomes for those living with the condition.

“As we now plan for recovery, improved surveillance, and risk factor management, it will be imperative that primary and specialist care services urgently focus on the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on ethnic minority populations.”

“Only by taking a long-term, holistic view of health care will we, and particularly our most vulnerable populations, be able to cope better with future pandemics.”

NIHR ARC East Midlands finances critical work to address the region’s health and care concerns by accelerating research uptake on the frontlines of health and social care. The organisation implements evidence-based solutions in order to improve care standards while saving time and money.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust hosts NIHR ARC East Midlands, which collaborates with the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network. It has offices at the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham.

The study, titled ‘The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Ethnic Minority Diabetes Groups,’ was published in Diabetes Care.

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