The University of Chicago

The Lindau Lab

National U.S. Women's Health COVID-19 Study

“Most national surveys tend to report aggregated findings rather than stratifying by gender. Those early studies gave us snapshots of the health and behaviors of the whole population, but gave us limited insight on women. Yet, women constitute the majority of the essential workforce, including healthcare workers, and we wanted to make sure that women’s experiences were being documented.”

Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau, UChicago Medicine (April 5, 2021)

National U.S. Women’s Health COVID-19 Study

In April 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, we conducted a nationwide survey of more than 3000 adult women. The goal of this study is to describe modifiable pandemic-related vulnerabilities and their impact on women’s health. 

Project News

Health-Related Socioeconomic Vulnerabilities Among Women Caregivers Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Read more about our paper on caregiver experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Click to Read

Unwanted sexual activity among United States women early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Read more about our paper on unwanted sexual activity during the pandemic published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Click to Read

Change in Health-Related Socioeconomic Risk Factors and Mental Health During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Survey of U.S. Women

Increased health-related socioeconomic vulnerability among U.S. women early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was prevalent and associated with alarmingly high rates of mental health problems. Pandemic-related mental health needs are likely to be much greater than currently available resources, especially for vulnerable women.

Click to Read

COVID-19-Related Food Insecurity Among Households with Dietary Restrictions: A National Survey

Households with dietary restrictions were more likely to experience both pre-pandemic and pandemic-related incident or worsening food insecurity than households without restrictions. Clinical care for patients with dietary restrictions requires attention to food insecurity.
Click to Read

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health-Related Socioeconomic Risks During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Survey of U.S. Women

Prepandemic racial/ethnic disparities in HRSRs persisted and prevalence rates increased for all groups early in the pandemic. Disparities in transportation difficulties widened. White women were much less likely than others to experience extreme health-related socioeconomic vulnerability. An equitable COVID-19 response requires attention to persistent and widening racial/ethnic disparities in HRSRs among women.
Click to Read