BAME patients ‘average of 10 years younger’ than white

PEOPLE from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups who are treated in hospital for Covid-19 are on average a decade younger than white patients, preliminary research suggests.

A study led by King’s College London found BAME patients had an average age of 63, which is 10 years lower than the figure for Caucasian patients.

BAME patients had a higher propensity for hypertension (63.3 per cent) and diabetes (48.6 per cent), while white patients were more likely to have heart-related issues (21.2 per cent), the research showed.

However, the King’s College team said they found the ethnicity of patients did not affect the risk of death associated with Covid-19.

The results of the study are published on medrxiv.org, the preprint server for health sciences, and have yet to be peer reviewed.

“Our study shows that people of black and minority ethnic backgrounds have a disproportionately high rate of requiring hospitalisation for Covid-19,” said Ajay Shah, the lead author of the study and professor of cardiology at King’s College Hospital. “People of

BAME background are on average much younger than our white patients and have health inequalities such as higher levels of diabetes and high blood pressure.”

The researchers analysed data from 1,200 patients admitted between March 1 and May 12 to King’s College Hospital NHS Trust.

Of them, 368 (30.7 per cent) were from BAME communities and a majority (310) were black.

Data showed 288 patients died after being infected with coronavirus, including 151 white and 68 BAME patients.

Among the 168 patients in critical care, 17.5 per cent were from BAME groups, compared with 10 per cent who were white.

According to the researchers, the findings indicate ethnicity does not have a bearing on final outcome for patients, including death or admission to critical care.

Prof Shah said: “Some good news is that the chances of recovery in those admitted appear to be similar for different ethnicities.

“We are now working to identify why the rates of hospital admission are so much higher in BAME groups and why much younger patients are affected,” he added.