Publication date: Jan 18, 2025
Previous research shows the significant correlation between low education and COVID-19 mortality in underprivileged communities, even when accounting for factors like poverty and race. The exact mechanisms by which low education gives rise to COVID-19 mortality, however, are less clear. We propose that low education predicts COVID-19 morality because low education gives rise to a less engaged, less agentic approach to one’s own healthcare. We operationalize low engagement and low agentic behavior as four variables that mediate the effect of low education on COVID-19 mortality: (i) vaccination, (ii) distrust of science (Republican vote), (iii) poor health, and (iv) prevention. We model COVID-19 mortality in 3108 counties of the United States, using deaths across 60 fortnights. All four indicators of an agentic, engaged approach to health are statistically significant mediators of the relationship between low education and COVID-19 mortality: vaccination [IRR = 1. 02; (1. 02, 1. 03)]; Republican vote [IRR: 1. 07; (1. 06, 1. 09)]; poor health [IRR: 1. 01; (1. 01, 1. 02)]; and prevention [IRR: 1. 00, (1. 001, 1. 003)]. These findings suggest that low level of formal education predicts mortality from COVID-19 because low levels of education gives rise to a less engaged and less agentic approach to one’s own health.
Concepts | Keywords |
---|---|
Education | COVID-19 |
Fortnights | low education |
Mortality | mediation |
Republican | prevention |
Underprivileged | Republican vote |
Semantics
Type | Source | Name |
---|---|---|
disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
disease | IDO | role |