New research from Luis Zavala Arciniega

PhD Student, Epidemiology

March 9, 2022

Hispanic Michiganders were more likely than white Michiganders to suffer severe COVID-19
symptoms, have longer hospital stays and experience increased social stressors—being
unable to pay rent, buy food or arrange child care—according to a new University of
Michigan study.

The findings shine a light onto the health inequalities that were already observed by an earlier
analysis comparing non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic white adults, says Luis Zavala Arciniega, the main author of the most recent analysis from the Michigan COVID-19 Recovery
Surveillance Study.

“Our findings  corroborate some of the anecdotal evidence we’ve heard about since
the beginning of the pandemic, and I hope they will help to guide future response
efforts to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in this and other related health outcomes
in Michigan,” said Zavala, a doctoral candidate at the U-M’s School of Public Health. 

For their study, researchers reached out to 6,000 adults in Michigan with COVID-19
onset on or before Nov. 15, 2020. A total of 1,839 online and phone surveys were completed.
Responses were weighted to be representative of adults with COVID-19 onset in Michigan
with respect to age, sex and geographic location. In all, 67% were white, 10% were
Hispanic and the rest were from other racial/ethnic groups. 

Researchers found that: 

• Twenty-five percent of Hispanic respondents reported very severe symptoms, compared
  to 11% of white respondents.
• Hispanic respondents were nearly twice as likely as white respondents to have a hospital
  stay longer than one week.
• One in 10 Hispanics reported that their COVID-19 testing or treatment made them feel
  upset due to how they were treated based on their race, compared to 1 in 100 whites.
• More Hispanic than white respondents took a sick leave, but paid sick leave was  less
  common among Hispanic adults.

The study also found differences between US-born Hispanic and foreign-born Hispanic
respondents:

• Among employed respondents, about 1 in 4 US-born and 1 in 3 foreign-born Hispanic
  respondents reported they never or rarely had access to personal protective equipment
  at work.
• Among those employed, 90% foreign-born Hispanic respondents took sick leave during
  their illness, compared to 76% among U.S.-born Hispanic respondents.
• Fewer U.S.-born than foreign-born Hispanic respondents reported increased social stressors
  such as difficulty paying bills or access to public transportation.

This is the fourth data report from the Michigan COVID-19 Recovery Surveillance Study,
a collaboration between U-M’s School of Public Health and the Michigan Department
of Human Services that seeks to inform equitable responses to the current pandemic
as well as future public health efforts.

Contact

Nardy Baeza Bickel

Lead Public Relations Representative
University of Michigan News
nbbickel@umich.edu
734-763-0368