Report finds Native people got sicker from Covid-19 despite fewer pre-existing conditions

A new Covid-19 study published in PNAS Nexus by UNM researchers found that Native patients were sicker and more likely to die in the hospital than others, even though they had fewer pre-existing conditions.

The report is based on data from 475 patients brought to UNM hospital during the period April 2020 through December 2021.

The patients who identified as American Indian/Alaska Native were on average younger, and had fewer pre-existing conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), than those who identified as Hispanic or non-Hispanic white patients.

But they were more likely to need ventilators and to have more severe disease.

The report’s authors noted similar patterns of severe effects on Native people of historical outbreaks of respiratory infections including the 1918 influenza pandemic and tuberculosis.

The report was not conclusive on reasons why this might be the case. The authors noted there are almost certainly multiple factors, including possible immunological responses to the virus and social determinants of health. Those are things like economic stability, living conditions, access to clean water, all of which can affect overall health.

The report’s authors also did note that data were limited, due to the small numbers of other ethnic groups like Black and Asian patients in UNMH.

The study was led by UNM Center for Global Health Director D.J. Perkins and Research Associate Professor Ivy Hurwitz.

Hurwitz said in a UNM press release that as they began recruiting patients in the hospital, “We saw a lot of people who were really, really sick in the ICU, and a lot of those people unfortunately were American Indian. It was really sad. They were really suffering disproportionately.”