Overcrowded Housing Reduces COVID-19 Mitigation Measures and Lowers Emotional Health Among San Diego Refugees from September to November of 2020

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract Refugee communities are vulnerable to housing insecurity, which drives numerous health disparity outcomes in a historically marginalized population. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened the ongoing affordable housing crisis in the United States while continuing to highlight disparities in health outcomes across populations. We conducted interviewer-administered surveys with refugee and asylum seekers in San Diego County at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to understand the social effects and drivers of COVID-19 in one of the largest refugee communities in the United States. Staff from a community-based refugee advocacy and research organization administered the surveys from September - November 2020. 544 respondents participated in the survey, which captured the diversity of the San Diego refugee community including East African (38%), Middle Eastern (35%), Afghan (17%), and Southeast Asian (11%) participants. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65%) reported living in overcrowded conditions (> 1 individual per room ) and 30% in severely crowded conditions ( > 1.5 individuals per room). Respondents living in affordable housing units or receiving section 8 housing vouchers had a 66% lower probability of living in severely crowded settings (aOR:0.34, 95% CI:0.19– 0.61). Refugees living in overcrowded and severely overcrowded housing had more than twice the odds to have not accessed COVID-19 testing since the pandemic began (OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.38 - 3.78) and had nearly 4 times the odds to report lower emotional health (OR: 3.90, 95% CI: 2.62 - 5.82). Longer United States residency was associated with a 7% reduction in the odds of living in crowded housing per additional year (aOR:0.93, 95% CI:0.90–0.97). Overcrowding housing is a structural burden that reduces COVID-19 risk mitigation behaviors. Improved access to affordable housing units or receiving vouchers could reduce overcrowded housing in vulnerable refugee communities.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.