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HEI publishes new report on assessing long-term air pollution exposures and severe COVID-19 outcomes in New York City
HEI has published a new Research Report, REACH-OUT: Race, Ethnicity, and Air Pollution in COVID-19 Hospitalization OUTcomes, led by Dr. Jeanette Stingone of Columbia University. The study evaluated whether associations between long-term air pollution exposures and severe COVID-19 health outcomes varied by neighborhood-level environmental vulnerability, as defined by social and structural characteristics such as income and housing, in a cohort of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in New York City.
The investigators reported that the association between exposure to outdoor air pollutants and being admitted to the hospital with a COVID-19 diagnosis after entering the emergency department was notably stronger in areas of higher neighborhood vulnerability, as compared to areas with lower neighborhood vulnerability.
However, the modifying effect of neighborhood environmental vulnerability on the association between outdoor air pollution and other severe COVID- 19 health outcomes was inconsistent across different air pollutants and health outcomes, as well as across phases of the pandemic.
Overall, this study demonstrates the complexity of the relationship among air pollution, COVID-19, and neighborhood vulnerability. It highlights the need for additional research to better understand this relationship in the context of future respiratory infectious disease outbreaks.
