Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36478269›Full record

ArticleJournal of racial and ethnic health disparities2023

Early Pandemic Access to COVID-19 Testing in the Somali Community in King County, Washington, USA: a Mixed-Methods Evaluation.

Najma Abdi, Sabrina Ebengho, Nasra Mohamed, Andrea Scallon, Ayan Mohamed, Asiya Ahmed, Abdifatah Abdi, Ruweida Ahmed, Farah Mohamed, Anisa Ibrahim and 3 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 34% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Najma Abdi *School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Sabrina Ebengho *School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Nasra MohamedUniversity of Washington, Bothell, WA, USA.
Andrea ScallonDepartment of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Ayan MohamedSchool of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Asiya AhmedSchool of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Abdifatah AbdiSomali Health Board, Tukwila, WA, USA.
Ruweida AhmedSchool of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Farah MohamedSomali Health Board, Tukwila, WA, USA.
Anisa IbrahimSomali Health Board, Tukwila, WA, USA.
Ahmed AliSomali Health Board, Tukwila, WA, USA.
Kathleen McGlone West *Department of Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Keshet Ronen *Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. keshet@uw.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-5625-4884
University of Washington · USUniversity of Washington Bothell · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRacial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection and outcomes have been documented, but few studies have examined disparities in access to testing.

methodsWe conducted a mixed methods study of access to COVID-19 testing in the Somali immigrant community in King County, Washington, USA, early during the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2020-February 2021, we conducted quantitative surveys in a convenience sample (n = 528) of individuals who had accessed PCR testing, recruited at King County testing sites near Somali population centers and through social media outreach in the Somali community. We compared self-identified Somali and non-Somali responses using Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. We also conducted three Somali-language focus groups (n = 26) by video conference to explore Somali experiences with COVID-19 testing, and in-depth interviews with King County-based policymakers and healthcare workers (n = 13) recruited through the research team's professional network to represent key demographics and roles. Data were analyzed using qualitative rapid analysis to explore the county's COVID-19 testing landscape.

resultsAmong 420 survey respondents who had received COVID-19 testing in the prior 90 days, 29% of 140 Somali vs. 11% of 280 non-Somali respondents tested because of symptoms (p = 0.001), with a trend for longer time from symptom onset to testing (a measure of testing access) among Somali respondents (median 3.0 vs. 2.0 days, p = 0.06). Focus groups revealed barriers to testing, including distrust, misinformation, stigma, language, lack of awareness, and transportation. Stakeholders responding from all sectors highlighted the importance of community partnership to improve access.

conclusionSomali communities experience barriers to COVID-19 testing, as evidenced by the longer time from symptom onset to testing and corroborated by our qualitative findings. These barriers, both structural and community-derived, may be overcome through partnerships between government and community to support community-led, multilingual service delivery and racial representation among medical staff.

Indexed as

COVID-19PandemicsCOVID-19 TestingHumansLanguageSomaliaWashingtonCOVID-19ImmigrantSomaliTesting

Identifiers

PMID36478269
PMCPMC9734463
OpenAlexW4311280518

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.