scholarly journals Examining Social Vulnerability and the Association With COVID-19 Incidence in Harris County, Texas

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo A. Tortolero ◽  
Marcia de Oliveira Otto ◽  
Ryan Ramphul ◽  
Jose-Miguel Yamal ◽  
Alison Rector ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Household Composition ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Harris County ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Incidence Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Staying At Home ◽  
At Home

Studies have investigated the association between social vulnerability and SARS-CoV-2 incidence. However, few studies have examined small geographic units such as census tracts, examined geographic regions with large numbers of Hispanic and Black populations, controlled for testing rates, and incorporated stay-at-home measures into their analyses. Understanding the relationship between social vulnerability and SARS-CoV-2 incidence is critical to understanding the interplay between social determinants and implementing risk mitigation guidelines to curtail the spread of infectious diseases. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between CDC's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and SARS-CoV-2 incidence while controlling for testing rates and the proportion of those who stayed completely at home among 783 Harris County, Texas census tracts. SARS-CoV-2 incidence data were collected between May 15 and October 1, 2020. The SVI and its themes were the primary exposures. Median percent time at home was used as a covariate to measure the effect of staying at home on the association between social vulnerability and SARS-CoV-2 incidence. Data were analyzed using Kruskal Wallis and negative binomial regressions (NBR) controlling for testing rates and staying at home. Results showed that a unit increase in the SVI score and the SVI themes were associated with significant increases in SARS-CoV-2 incidence. The incidence risk ratio (IRR) was 1.090 (95% CI, 1.082, 1.098) for the overall SVI; 1.107 (95% CI, 1.098, 1.115) for minority status/language; 1.090 (95% CI, 1.083, 1.098) for socioeconomic; 1.060 (95% CI, 1.050, 1.071) for household composition/disability, and 1.057 (95% CI, 1.047, 1.066) for housing type/transportation. When controlling for stay-at-home, the association between SVI themes and SARS-CoV-2 incidence remained significant. In the NBR model that included all four SVI themes, only the socioeconomic and minority status/language themes remained significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 incidence. Community-level infections were not explained by a communities' inability to stay at home. These findings suggest that community-level social vulnerability, such as socioeconomic status, language barriers, use of public transportation, and housing density may play a role in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection regardless of the ability of some communities to stay at home because of the need to work or other reasons.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Social Vulnerability and COVID-19 Incidence Among Louisiana Census Tracts

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin N. Biggs ◽  
Patrick M. Maloney ◽  
Ariane L. Rung ◽  
Edward S. Peters ◽  
William T. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Negative Binomial Regression ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Social Vulnerability Index ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Choropleth Maps ◽  
The Relationship

Objective: To examine the association between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and COVID-19 incidence among Louisiana census tracts.Methods: An ecological study comparing the CDC SVI and census tract-level COVID-19 case counts was conducted. Choropleth maps were used to identify census tracts with high levels of both social vulnerability and COVID-19 incidence. Negative binomial regression with random intercepts was used to compare the relationship between overall CDC SVI percentile and its four sub-themes and COVID-19 incidence, adjusting for population density.Results: In a crude stratified analysis, all four CDC SVI sub-themes were significantly associated with COVID-19 incidence. Census tracts with higher levels of social vulnerability were associated with higher COVID-19 incidence after adjusting for population density (adjusted RR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.41-1.65).Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that increased social vulnerability is linked with COVID-19 incidence. Additional resources should be allocated to areas of increased social disadvantage to reduce the incidence of COVID-19 in vulnerable populations.

Can the Social Vulnerability Index Be Used for More Than Emergency Preparedness? An Examination Using Youth Physical Fitness Data

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Gay ◽  
Sara W. Robb ◽  
Kelsey M. Benson ◽  
Alice White
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Vulnerability Index ◽  
Household Composition ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Social Vulnerability Index ◽  
The Social

Background:The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a publicly available dataset, is used in emergency preparedness to identify communities in greatest need of resources. The SVI includes multiple socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic indicators that also are associated with physical fitness and physical activity. This study examined the utility of using the SVI to explain variation in youth fitness, including aerobic capacity and body mass index.Methods:FITNESSGRAM data from 2,126 Georgia schools were matched at the census tract level with SVI themes of socioeconomic, household composition, minority status and language, and housing and transportation. Multivariate multiple regression models were used to test whether SVI factors explained fitness outcomes, controlling for grade level (ie, elementary, middle, high school) and stratified by gender.Results:SVI themes explained the most variation in aerobic fitness and body mass index for both boys and girls (R2 values 11.5% to 26.6%). Socioeconomic, Minority Status and Language, and Housing and Transportation themes were salient predictors of fitness outcomes.Conclusions:Youth fitness in Georgia was related to socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic themes. The SVI may be a useful needs assessment tool for health officials and researchers examining multilevel influences on health behaviors or identifying communities for prevention efforts.

scholarly journals Understanding Pediatric Surgery Cancellation: Geospatial Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Liu ◽  
Yizhao Ni ◽  
Andrew F Beck ◽  
Cole Brokamp ◽  
Ryan C Ramphul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Linear Regression ◽  
Regression Model ◽  
Linear Regression Model ◽  
Census Tract ◽  
Geospatial Analysis ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Census Tract Level

BACKGROUND Day-of-surgery cancellation (DoSC) represents a substantial wastage of hospital resources and can cause significant inconvenience to patients and families. Cancellation is reported to impact between 2% and 20% of the 50 million procedures performed annually in American hospitals. Up to 85% of cancellations may be amenable to the modification of patients’ and families’ behaviors. However, the factors underlying DoSC and the barriers experienced by families are not well understood. OBJECTIVE This study aims to conduct a geospatial analysis of patient-specific variables from electronic health records (EHRs) of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and of Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH), as well as linked socioeconomic factors measured at the census tract level, to understand potential underlying contributors to disparities in DoSC rates across neighborhoods. METHODS The study population included pediatric patients who underwent scheduled surgeries at CCHMC and TCH. A 5-year data set was extracted from the CCHMC EHR, and addresses were geocoded. An equivalent set of data >5.7 years was extracted from the TCH EHR. Case-based data related to patients’ health care use were aggregated at the census tract level. Community-level variables were extracted from the American Community Survey as surrogates for patients’ socioeconomic and minority status as well as markers of the surrounding context. Leveraging the selected variables, we built spatial models to understand the variation in DoSC rates across census tracts. The findings were compared to those of the nonspatial regression and deep learning models. Model performance was evaluated from the root mean squared error (RMSE) using nested 10-fold cross-validation. Feature importance was evaluated by computing the increment of the RMSE when a single variable was shuffled within the data set. RESULTS Data collection yielded sets of 463 census tracts at CCHMC (DoSC rates 1.2%-12.5%) and 1024 census tracts at TCH (DoSC rates 3%-12.2%). For CCHMC, an L2-normalized generalized linear regression model achieved the best performance in predicting all-cause DoSC rate (RMSE 1.299%, 95% CI 1.21%-1.387%); however, its improvement over others was marginal. For TCH, an L2-normalized generalized linear regression model also performed best (RMSE 1.305%, 95% CI 1.257%-1.352%). All-cause DoSC rate at CCHMC was predicted most strongly by <i>previous no show</i>. As for community-level data, the proportion of African American inhabitants per census tract was consistently an important predictor. In the Texas area, the proportion of overcrowded households was salient to DoSC rate. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that geospatial analysis offers potential for use in targeting interventions for census tracts at a higher risk of cancellation. Our study also demonstrates the importance of home location, socioeconomic disadvantage, and racial minority status on the DoSC of children’s surgery. The success of future efforts to reduce cancellation may benefit from taking social, economic, and cultural issues into account.

The relationship between perceived parental leniency, access to alcohol at home, and alcohol consumption and consequences among rural adolescents.

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-38
Author(s):  
Carolyn Lauckner ◽  
Charles A. Warnock ◽  
Anne Marie Schipani-McLaughlin ◽  
Danielle N. Lambert ◽  
Jessica L. Muilenburg
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Rural Adolescents ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
At Home

“I stay at work for you, you stay at home for us.” Does this Covid-19 campaign work for the youth in Asia?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-175
Author(s):  
Jappy Fanggidae ◽  
Ridolof Batilmurik ◽  
Pieter Samadara
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Method ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
At Home

This study investigated the relationship between guilt appeal and compliance with social distancing measures. We proposed that the relationship is double mediated by empathy and responsibility for the unfortunate people who have suffered from COVID-19. This research is novel to an extent as an experimental method is used in the Asian context. The results exhibited that guilt positively affected compliance with social distancing measures. The respondents were directly or indirectly compliant due to the emotions of empathy and responsibility. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study were presented.

Staying at Home

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Staying At Home ◽  
At Home

Sickness and Healing

2020 ◽  
pp. 310-325
Author(s):  
Deborah Rooke
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Hebrew Text ◽  
Biblical Hebrew ◽  
Ritual Action ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
At Home

Following some methodological remarks the chapter briefly reviews the vocabulary of sickness used in the biblical Hebrew text. It then examines instances of sickness and healing that are described in the Hebrew Bible, in order to establish how sickness is understood and how ritual might therefore relate to it. Aspects considered include the relationship between sickness and sin; whether and how YHWH is involved in causing sickness; epidemics versus individual cases of sickness; and instances of ritual action, broadly understood, that are used to address sickness-related issues. Such instances of ritual action include consulting a functionary such as a priest or prophet, and performing ritual laments and prayers either at home or at a shrine. Two instances of concerns relating to childbearing are also considered, both of which are pictured in the context of ritual action at a shrine.

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