Academic health systems Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine on Friday published the case outcomes of 5,902 ethnically diverse COVID-19-positive Black and Hispanic patients relative to their White counterparts in JAMA Network Open.

The college stated that the study shows that Black and Hispanic patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 presented with more pre-existing conditions, also known as comorbidities, as well as other risk factors. The researchers found that Black and Hispanic patients had survival rates at least as good as their non-Hispanic White counterparts, when controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic status and comorbidities. Similar data trends have been shown in patients hospitalized in other major health systems in Louisiana and the Midwest.

According to the researchers, the results are important because they suggest that "access to the services available in comprehensive health care environments may attenuate, if not eliminate, racial/ethnic differentials in COVID-19 mortality rates."

Across racial and ethnic groups, the higher mortality rates were primarily driven by older age and the presence of multiple comorbidities, including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease that are prevalent in Black and Hispanic communities, concluded the partnership.