What is the health impact of COVID-19 among Black communities in Canada? A systematic review
Abstract
Background: Limited race-based health data and a lack of synthesized evidence on clinical outcomes highlighted the need to better understand the pandemic’s impact on specific populations across Canada.
Objective: The objective of this systematic review was to identify the health impact of COVID-19 on mortality, morbidity, hospital admission, and hospital readmission rates among Black Canadians.
Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search across five databases: OVID Medline, OVID Embase, EBSCO CINAHL Plus, Web of Science, and Scopus. Additional searches were conducted for Grey literature in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, Google Scholar, and an advanced customized Google search for Canadian government documents. All eligible studies included in this review underwent quality assessment. Four articles were eligible for inclusion in the review. All of these studies were conducted in Canada, and study dates ranged from 2020 to 2021.
Results: The results of this review showed that morbidity rates were higher among Black populations compared to other racial groups. Additionally, one study found higher mortality rates in areas with larger Black populations, while another reported higher hospital admission rates among Black individuals compared to other groups.
Conclusions: The findings highlight two key points. First, the collection and availability of race-based data are necessary to clarify the impact of COVID-19 and other diseases on Black populations in Canada. Second, with the limited available data, studies suggest that COVID-19 disproportionately impacts Black populations in Canada, making up high shares of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations compared to the rest of the population.