Abstract
Background
To assess differences in the probability of COVID-19-related death between native Italians and immigrants hospitalised with COVID-19.
Methods
This was a retrospective study of prospectively collected data conducted at the ASST Fatebenefratelli-Sacco Hospital in Milan, Italy, between 21 February and 31 November 2020. Uni- and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the impact of the patients' origin on the probability of COVID-19-related death.
Results
The study population consisted of 1,179 COVID-19 patients: 921 Italians (78.1%) and 258 immigrants (21.9%) from Latin America (99, 38.4%), Asia (72, 27.9%), Africa (50, 19.4%) and central/eastern Europe (37, 14.3%). The Italians were older (p < 0.001) and more frequently affected by co-morbidities (p < 0.001). Mortality was significantly greater among the Italians than the immigrants as a whole (26.6% vs 12.8%; p < 0.001), and significantly greater among the immigrants from Latin America than among those from Asia, Africa and central/eastern Europe (21.2% vs 8.3%, 6% and 8.1%, respectively; p = 0.016). Multivariate analyses showed that a Latin American origin was independently associated with an increased risk of death (adjusted hazard ratio 1.95, 95% confidence interval 1.17–3.23).
Conclusions
Our findings support the need to strengthen COVID-19 information and prevention initiatives in the Latin American community living in Milan.
Programmes, resources, and needs of HIV-prevention nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Africa, Central/Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean
