ArticlePLOS global public health2022
Socioeconomic predictors of COVID-19-related health disparities among United States workers: A structural equation modeling study.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Housing instability patterns among low-income, urban Black young adults in California and associations with mental health outcomes: baseline data from a randomized waitlist-controlled trial.BMC public health · 2024Trial
- Household Conflict in the Time of COVID-19: the Impact of Public Policy on Family Dynamics in Marginalized Urban Communities with High Infection Risk.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2026Article
- Depression and anxiety in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: A 6-waves longitudinal study in the Argentine population.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Clinical Comparison of COVID Waves 2-5. An Inpatient Retrospective Comparative Analysis From Karachi, Pakistan.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the physical and mental health, and the economic stability, of specific population subgroups in different ways, deepening existing disparities. Essential workers have faced the greatest risk of exposure to COVID-19; women have been burdened by caretaking responsibilities; and rural residents have experienced healthcare access barriers. Each of these factors did not occur on their own. While most research has so far focused on individual factors related to COVID-19 disparities, few have explored the complex relationships between the multiple components of COVID-19 vulnerabilities. Using structural equation modeling on a sample of United States (U.S.) workers (N = 2800), we aimed to 1) identify factor clusters that make up specific COVID-19 vulnerabilities, and 2) explore how these vulnerabilities affected specific subgroups, specifically essential workers, women and rural residents. We identified 3 COVID-19 vulnerabilities: financial, mental health, and healthcare access; 9 out of 10 respondents experienced one; 15% reported all three. Essential workers [standardized coefficient (β) = 0.23; unstandardized coefficient (B) = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.17, 0.24] and rural residents (β = 0.13; B = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.09, 0.16) experienced more financial vulnerability than non-essential workers and non-rural residents, respectively. Women (β = 0.22; B = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.65, 0.74) experienced worse mental health than men; whereas essential workers reported better mental health (β = -0.08; B = -0.25, 95% CI = -0.38, -0.13) than other workers. Rural residents (β = 0.09; B = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.07, 0.24) experienced more healthcare access barriers than non-rural residents. Findings highlight how interrelated financial, mental health, and healthcare access vulnerabilities contribute to the disproportionate COVID-19-related burden among U.S. workers. Policies to secure employment conditions, including fixed income and paid sick leave, are urgently needed to mitigate pandemic-associated disparities.
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