abstract: 'IMPORTANCE Latinx individuals, particularly immigrants, are at higher

  risk than non-Latinx White individuals of contracting and dying from

  coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Little is known about Latinx

  experiences with COVID-19 infection and treatment.

  OBJECTIVE To describe the experiences of Latinx individuals who were

  hospitalized with and survived COVID-19.

  DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS The qualitative study used

  semistructured phone interviews of 60 Latinx adults who survived a

  COVID-19 hospitalization in public hospitals in San Francisco,

  California, and Denver, Colorado, from March 2020 to July 2020.

  Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. Data

  analysis was conducted from May 2020 to September 2020.

  MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Themes and subthemes that reflected patient

  experiences.

  RESULTS Sixty people (24 women and 36 men; mean {[}SD] age, 48 {[}12]

  years) participated. All lived in low-income areas, 47 participants

  (78\%) had more than 4 people in the home, and most (44 participants

  {[}73\%]) were essential workers. Four participants (9\%) could work

  from home, 12 (20\%) had paid sick leave, and 21 (35\%) lost their job

  because of COVID-19. We identified 5 themes (and subthemes) with public

  health and clinical care implications: COVID-19 was a distant and

  secondary threat (invincibility, misinformation and disbelief, ingrained

  social norms); COVID-19 was a compounder of disadvantage (fear of

  unemployment and eviction, lack of safeguards for undocumented

  immigrants, inability to protect self from COVID-19, and high-density

  housing); reluctance to seek medical care (worry about health care

  costs, concerned about ability to access care if uninsured or

  undocumented, undocumented immigrants fear deportation); health care

  system interactions (social isolation and change in hospital procedures,

  appreciation for clinicians and language access, and discharge with

  insufficient resources or clinical information); and faith and community

  resiliency (spirituality, Latinx COVID-19 advocates).

  CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In interviews, Latinx patients with COVID-19

  who survived hospitalization described initial disease misinformation

  and economic and immigration fears as having driven exposure and delays

  in presentation. To confront COVID-19 as a compounder of social

  disadvantage, public health authorities should mitigate COVID-19-related

  misinformation, immigration fears, and challenges to health care access,

  as well as create policies that provide work protection and address

  economic disadvantages.'
affiliation: 'Cervantes, L (Corresponding Author), Denver Hlth, 777 Bannock,MC 4000,
  Denver, CO 80204 USA.

  Cervantes, Lilia; Frank, Maria G.; Kearns, Mark; Camacho, Claudia, Denver Hlth,
  Div Med, Denver, CO USA.

  Cervantes, Lilia; Collings, Adriana, Denver Hlth, Off Res, Denver, CO USA.

  Cervantes, Lilia; Frank, Maria G.; Kearns, Mark; Mundo, William, Univ Colorado,
  Dept Med, Aurora, CO USA.

  Martin, Marlene; Rubio, Luis A.; Powe, Neil R.; Fernandez, Alicia, Univ Calif San
  Francisco, Dept Med, Zuckerberg San Francisco Gen Hosp, San Francisco, CA 94143
  USA.

  Farfan, Julia F., Univ Illinois, Coll Med, Chicago, IL USA.

  Tong, Allison; Matus Gonzalez, Andrea, Univ Sydney, Sydney Sch Publ Hlth, Sydney,
  NSW, Australia.

  Tong, Allison; Matus Gonzalez, Andrea, Childrens Hosp Westmead, Ctr Kidney Res,
  Westmead, NSW, Australia.'
article-number: e210684
author: Cervantes, Lilia and Martin, Marlene and Frank, Maria G. and Farfan, Julia
  F. and Kearns, Mark and Rubio, Luis A. and Tong, Allison and Matus Gonzalez, Andrea
  and Camacho, Claudia and Collings, Adriana and Mundo, William and Powe, Neil R.
  and Fernandez, Alicia
author-email: lilia.cervantes@dhha.org
author_list:
- family: Cervantes
  given: Lilia
- family: Martin
  given: Marlene
- family: Frank
  given: Maria G.
- family: Farfan
  given: Julia F.
- family: Kearns
  given: Mark
- family: Rubio
  given: Luis A.
- family: Tong
  given: Allison
- family: Matus Gonzalez
  given: Andrea
- family: Camacho
  given: Claudia
- family: Collings
  given: Adriana
- family: Mundo
  given: William
- family: Powe
  given: Neil R.
- family: Fernandez
  given: Alicia
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.0684
esi-highly-cited-paper: Y
esi-hot-paper: N
files: []
issn: 2574-3805
journal: JAMA NETWORK OPEN
keywords-plus: DEATHS
language: English
month: MAR 11
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '51'
orcid-numbers: Kearns, Mark/0000-0003-1273-686X
papis_id: ce4cc152245f81a33a08ddb425c62a61
ref: Cervantes2021experienceslatinx
researcherid-numbers: 'Gonzalez, Andrea/HDM-9987-2022

  gonzalez, Andrea/JBJ-3290-2023

  Frank, Maria (Gaby)/AHA-0816-2022

  Rubio, Luis/AAJ-9561-2021

  Martin, Marlene/HKO-3958-2023

  González Ríos, Andrea/HGU-7618-2022

  '
times-cited: '60'
title: Experiences of Latinx Individuals Hospitalized for COVID-19 A Qualitative Study
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000627897500001
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '11'
volume: '4'
web-of-science-categories: Medicine, General \& Internal
year: '2021'