Social Capital, Urbanization Level, and COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake in the United States: A National Level Analysis

  1. Shan Qiao
  2. Zhenlong Li
  3. Jiajia Zhang
  4. Xiaowen Sun
  5. Camryn Garrett
  6. Xiaoming Li

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Abstract

Vaccination remains the most promising mitigation strategy for the COVID-19 pandemic. However, existing literature shows significant disparities in vaccination uptake in the United States. Using publicly available national-level data, we aimed to explore if county-level social capital can further explain disparities in vaccination uptake rates when adjusting for demographic and social determinants of health (SDOH) variables, and if association between social capital and vaccination uptake may vary by urbanization level. Bivariate analyses and a hierarchical multivariable quasi-binomial regression analysis were conducted, where the regression analysis was stratified by urban–rural status. The current study suggests that social capital contributes significantly to the disparities of vaccination uptake in the US. The results of the stratification analysis show common predictors of vaccine uptake but also suggest various patterns based on urbanization level regarding the associations of COVID-19 vaccination uptake with SDOH and social capital factors. The study provides a new perspective to address disparities in vaccination uptake through fostering social capital within communities; which may inform tailored public health intervention efforts to enhance social capital and promote vaccination uptake.

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  1. Version published to 10.3390/vaccines10040625
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2022.03.04.22271917: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    NIH rigor criteria are not applicable to paper type.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Specifically, the variables included percentage of female, percentage of Hispanic, percentage of non-Hispanic Asian, percentage of non-Hispanic Black, and percentage of non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
    Islander
    suggested: (Islander, RRID:SCR_007758)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Our study is also subject to several limitations: First, we did not include some individual-level factors such as risk perceptions and attitudes toward vaccine in data analysis, which limits our ability to explore this mechanism of social capital in affecting vaccine uptake. Second, there are missing data on some key social capital measures, which may affect the final regression results. Third, we must be cautious when interpreting the results of the stratification analysis because the sample size of model 4, 5, and 6 was quite different given the rural counties was 1589, small urban was 659, and large urban was 391. These various sample sizes result in differential statistical power. Despite these limitations, our study demonstrates how different social capital domains may contribute to explaining the disparities of vaccine uptake based on national level data and explores how the impacts of social capital on vaccine disparities may vary by urbanization level in the United States. The study provides a new perspective to address disparities in vaccination uptake through fostering social capital within communities. Meanwhile, our findings of the stratification analysis suggest a complicated interaction between social capital and vaccine uptake across the rural-urban continuum. Further studies are needed to advance our understanding of the various associations between social capital and vaccine uptake rates by urbanization level, which have the potential to inform tailored publi...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2022.03.04.22271917 on medRxiv