Kavanagh Nolan M, Goel Rishi R, Venkataramani Atheendar S
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Am J Prev Med. 2021 Jul;61(1):13-19. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2021.01.040. Epub 2021 Mar 24.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented social distancing measures to slow viral transmission. This work aims to determine the extent to which socioeconomic and political conditions have shaped community-level distancing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially how these dynamics have evolved over time.
This study used daily data on physical distancing from 15‒17 million cell phone users in 3,037 U.S. counties. County-level changes in the average distance traveled per person were estimated relative to prepandemic weeks as a proxy for physical distancing. Pooled ordinary least squares regressions estimated the association between physical distancing and a variety of county-level demographic, socioeconomic, and political characteristics by week from March 9, 2020 to January 17, 2021. Data were collected until January 2021, at which point the analyses were finalized.
Lower per capita income and greater Republican orientation were associated with significantly reduced physical distancing throughout nearly all the study period. These associations persisted after adjusting for a variety of county-level demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Other county-level characteristics, such as the shares of Black and Hispanic residents, were associated with reduced distancing at various points during the study period.
These results highlight the importance of dynamic socioeconomic and political gradients in preventive behavior and imply the need for nimble policy responses.
为应对新冠疫情，各国政府已实施社交距离措施以减缓病毒传播。这项工作旨在确定社会经济和政治状况在新冠疫情期间对社区层面社交距离行为的影响程度，特别是这些动态如何随时间演变。
本研究使用了来自美国3037个县1500万至1700万手机用户的每日身体距离数据。相对于疫情前的几周，估计了各县人均出行距离的变化，以此作为身体距离的代理指标。通过2020年3月9日至2021年1月17日按周进行的混合普通最小二乘法回归，估计了身体距离与各县各种人口、社会经济和政治特征之间的关联。数据收集截至2021年1月，此时分析工作最终完成。
在几乎整个研究期间，人均收入较低和共和党倾向较强与身体距离显著降低相关。在调整了各县的各种人口和社会经济特征后，这些关联依然存在。其他县级特征，如黑人和西班牙裔居民的比例，在研究期间的不同时间点与社交距离的降低有关。
这些结果凸显了动态社会经济和政治梯度在预防行为中的重要性，并意味着需要灵活的政策应对措施。
