{
  "abstract": "This nationwide cohort study aimed to examine social inequality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related morbidity and mortality in Denmark during the first three pandemic waves using different individual-level measures of socioeconomic position. Additionally, the study aimed to investigate potential changes in social inequality in COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality throughout the pandemic. The cohort comprised the total Danish population. Individual-level, linkable register data were extracted and analysed for all residents of Denmark across the first three pandemic waves (26 February 2020-15 April 2022). Poisson regression of incidence rates (IR) was performed to compare COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality rates between individuals grouped according to length of educational, household income, and employment status. Social inequality in COVID-19-related hospitalization, ICU admission, and mortality was observed across the three measures of socioeconomic position. The social inequality in COVID-19-related hospitalization and ICU admission increased throughout the pandemic. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) for COVID-19-related hospitalization for individuals with elementary vs. long education increased from 0.93 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83-1.05] in wave 1 to 1.75 (1.67-1.84) in wave 3. The corresponding changes in IRRs for low vs. high household income and unemployed vs. employed individuals were 0.87 (0.75-1.01) to 1.83 (1.71-1.95) and 1.04 (0.86-1.25) to 3.23 (3.02-3.45), respectively. Social inequality in COVID-19-related morbidity changed during the pandemic. Interventions that reduce differential vulnerability to and consequences of COVID-19 between groups defined by socioeconomic position seem to be increasingly important as pandemics evolve.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Thora M Kjærulff"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mikkel B Nielsen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Michelle T Pedersen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Kristine Bihrmann"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Janne S Tolstrup"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Annette K Ersbøll"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4g4z6wr0a6qbw.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1093/eurpub/ckag196",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13722283/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "4g4z6wr0a6qbw",
  "issns": [
    "1101-1262",
    "1464-360X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13722283",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/MED00860"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC01210"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC02610"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Manuscript"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Population and Equity in Health"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2611|COVID-19 epidemiological studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224894025",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13722283/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13722283",
  "pmid": "42962215",
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4g4z6wr0a6qbw.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:37Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13722283",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13722283"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T03:21:43Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42962215",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42962215"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T12:22:49Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13722283",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag196"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "mathematics",
      "origin": "openalex:2611|COVID-19 epidemiological studies",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Social inequality in COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality during the first three waves of the pandemic in Denmark: a nationwide register-based cohort study, 2020–22",
  "title_text": "Social inequality in COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality during the first three waves of the pandemic in Denmark: a nationwide register-based cohort study, 2020–22",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-03T12:22:49Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4g4z6wr0a6qbw",
  "venue": "European journal of public health",
  "versions": []
}