• Christopher D Owens, Gerardo M Pertuz, Julio C Sanchez, Jorge Ayala, Lindsey H Pimentel, Christopher Lamb, Yelyt E Lopez Mayo, and Alfredo Lopez Yunez.
• From Alivio Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN (CDO, GMP, JCS, JA, LHP, CL, YELM, ALY); Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (CL). cdowens@aliviohealth.com.
• J Am Board Fam Med. 2022 Jul 1; 35 (4): 686-694.

IntroductionThe COVID-19 global pandemic has affected all ethnic and minority groups although not equally. The goals of the present study are twofold: describe the diverse COVID-19-related care needs Hispanic patients presenting to a primary care facility and the symptom clusters and socioeconomic factors that may impact their wellbeing.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort of Hispanic patients in an outpatient clinic serving an urban lower socioeconomic demographic, between May 9 and July 31, 2020. COVID-19 infection was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction or rapid antibody test. Student's t-test was used for means and the chi2 was used for comparisons of proportions.ResultsA total of 6616 patients visited Alivio, 409 were triaged to a containment area, and 378 were tested for COVID-19; 230 with, 148 without symptoms. Of those tested, 161(42.6%) were positive, representing 2.4% of total patients seen. Age, temperature, and pulse rate were all significantly higher in patients with symptoms compared with those without. Symptoms were grouped into 5 clusters: constitutional, n = 143(62%), respiratory, n = 136 (59%), and somatic, n = 97(42%) were most common. No single cluster was particularly diagnostic of COVID-19, although those with symptoms in multiple clusters were more likely to test positive, P < .001. The majority worked in essential jobs, were uninsured, and had more than half had prolonged symptoms.ConclusionsHispanic patients have diverse reasons for seeking health care and for testing in a pandemic. COVID-19 is a syndromic disease as evidenced from the clustering of symptoms. Essential workers and uninsured health status may lead to more prolonged disease course.© Copyright 2022 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

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