Research from Brigham and Women`s Hospital indicates that individuals with lower incomes faced a threefold higher risk of severe COVID-19.
Scientists at Brigham and Women`s Hospital (BWH) have discovered that individuals facing financial difficulties were more prone to experiencing severe forms of coronavirus infection. The findings of this study were published in the scientific journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
This American study involved 3,700 participants infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the Omicron variant outbreak. Analyzing data collected from October 2021 to November 2023 across 33 states, researchers found that patients experiencing financial or social hardships consistently developed more severe COVID-19.
Americans in these at-risk groups were three times more likely to suffer severe COVID-19 compared to other patients. The study also revealed that disease duration correlated not only with poverty but also with residing in disadvantaged or densely populated areas, where recovery from coronavirus tended to take longer.
As stated by Elizabeth Carlson, the study`s senior author, while the pandemic`s acute phase has passed, many individuals continue to live with chronic post-COVID consequences. She emphasized that “in the future, these factors must be considered to effectively reduce adverse outcomes among populations with high social risk.”
Shortly before this, in late July, specialists from the University of Nottingham concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic might have significantly impacted brain health and cognitive functions, even in individuals who were not infected with the virus.
