DUPRI Researchers Explore Role of Housing, Neighborhood and Health Insurance in Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Positivity

In a new paper published in Housing Policy Debate titled "Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Case Positivity and Social Context: The Role of Housing, Neighborhood, and Health Insurance," a group of DUPRI researchers, including Anna Gassman-Pines, Elizabeth Gifford, and Marcos Rangel examine whether housing, neighborhood, and health insurance explain disparities in case positivity between and within racial-ethnic groups in Durham County, North Carolina. Research on racial-ethnic COVID-19 disparities has yet to employ housing variables measured at the individual level, limiting our understanding of housing’s role in determining early exposure to the virus. To address this gap, the authors linked data from SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests within the Duke University Health System between March 12, 2020, and July 31, 2020 (N = 23,057 individuals), with housing parcel data. They then analyzed how housing, neighborhood, and health insurance explain disparities in case positivity between and within racial-ethnic groups in Durham County, North Carolina. They find that 55% of the Black–White disparity and 25% of the Hispanic–White disparity in positive cases are explained by these social-contextual variables. Neighborhood-fixed effects explained the largest portion (27%) of the Black–White disparity, whereas health insurance type explained the largest portion (14%) of the Hispanic–White disparity. The authors conclude that housing, neighborhood, and health insurance had a significant role in producing racial-ethnic disparities in COVID-19 case positivity.