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Financial, Social, and Health Impacts from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Healthy Chicago Survey

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Abstract

Background

This study examines self-reported impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic among Chicago residents and disparities of these impacts across demographic characteristics. Six logistic regression models were developed to identify demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with each COVID-19 impact.

Method

The study used de-identified and weighted data from the 2020 Healthy Chicago Survey (HCS). HCS is an annual survey using an address-based random sampling method administered by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) across the city of Chicago on adults aged 18 or older living between July 17 and November 11, 2020, and received 4517 responses.

Results

Chicago residents with lower socioeconomic status had a higher likelihood of food and housing insecurity. Non-Hispanic (NH) Black residents were more likely to report being unable to obtain food (OR: 2.996; 95% CI: 2.268–2.324); being unable to pay for rent, mortgage, or bills (OR: 2.352; 95% CI: 2.325–2.380); and grief from a loss of someone to COVID-19 (OR: 2.037; 95% CI: 2.013–2.061) compared to NH White residents. NH White residents were more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to report loss of social connections, worsened mental health, and canceling or postponing medical care.

Conclusions

The analysis showed higher odds of social contact loss and worsened mental health from COVID-19 in NH White and higher education populations. By implementing strategies to address specific challenges faced by different racial groups, Chicago may effectively mitigate pandemic’s adverse effects. These strategies can promote a more inclusive approach to distributing COVID investments for programs and policies.

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Data Availability

The de-identified data underlying this article can potentially be accessed by researchers upon request and after undergoing a review process by the Chicago Department of Public Health.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

    Wonjin Jeong & William P. Stewart

  2. Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

    Hyojung Kang

  3. Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL, USA

    Ajanta Patel

  4. Healthy Chicago Survey, Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL, USA

    Meha Singh

  5. Epidemiology, Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL, USA

    Nikhil Prachand

Authors
  1. Wonjin Jeong
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  2. Hyojung Kang
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  3. Ajanta Patel
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  4. Meha Singh
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  5. Nikhil Prachand
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  6. William P. Stewart
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wonjin Jeong.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The Office for the Protection of Research Subjects at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has reviewed and determined that the research study does not meet the definition of Human Subjects Research as defined in 45CFR46(d)(f) or 21CFR56.102(c)(e) and does not require IRB approval.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Jeong, W., Kang, H., Patel, A. et al. Financial, Social, and Health Impacts from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Healthy Chicago Survey. Int.J. Behav. Med. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-023-10220-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-023-10220-y

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