%A Ake Jol van Benthem
%T How does having a migrant background influence the incidence levels of COVID-19 when controlling for gender, age, income, household size, and educational attainment?
%L theses_frw4789
%X In the current literature, the positive associations between COVID-19 incidence rates and migrant populations are suggested.  Within this research, this relationship is tested controlling for social determinants of health variables. It utilizes a logistic regression analysis whereby COVID-19 incidences are its dependent variable and gender, age, income, household size, and educational attainment its independent. Data provided for this analysis is derived from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and consists of respondents 50 years or older. There are 8104 valid cases based in 27 countries within Europe and Israel. In conclusion, there was no significant relationship between migrant background and the COVID-19 incidence rate observed. However, household size and total monthly average household income indicate a significant relationship in regard to COVID-19 incidences. Respectively, in the household size variable for each additional member of the household, the odds of testing positive on a COVID-19 test go up by 15.6%. For the total monthly average income in the household, it was found that high income is associated with an odds decrease of testing positive for covid-19 by 36,6%. These results indicate that other factors, than migrant background, are influential in determining COVID-19 incidence rates. These test results suggest that in migrant populations lower incomes and larger households the have higher odds of testing positive for COVID-19. Policies and interventions for future pandemics can be designed in order to tailor towards individuals with large household sizes and low-income households to better protect them from potential incidence rates.
%D 2024