Social Determinant of Health Framework to Examine the Impact of COVID-19 on Latino Health.

Objectives: Evaluated how COVID-19 impacted Latino health across social, economic, and emotional dimensions and differentiated whether adverse COVID-19-related effects persisted across respondents.

Methods: In both English and Spanish, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in the USA from June 2021 to April 2022. Chi-square tests, Z-tests, and T-tests were used to test for significant differences between Spanish- and English-speaking respondents. Multiple linear regressions were carried out to understand whether previously established determinants of health for Latinos accounted for greater COVID-19-related adversity across social, economic, and mental health dimensions. English as a primary language was significantly related to greater adverse emotional/mental health COVID-19 experiences after controlling for other social determinants of health factors (β = - 0.355, p < 0.001). Individuals who reported worrying about housing loss were significantly more likely to experience more adverse economic adversity due to COVID-19 (β = - 0.234, p < 0.001). Household income < $35,000 (β = 0.083, p < 0.05), having more than 5 people living in the same home (β = -0.102, p < 0.05), and work-related transportation barriers (β = - 0.114, p < 0.05) all increased the likelihood of household-related stressors occurring because of the pandemic.

Conclusions: The study highlights the heterogeneity in the Latino community and the key social, economic, and community-level factors most strongly correlated with adverse COVID-19-related outcomes.