3.3. Comparisons between Total and Non-Institutional Cases and Deaths
We observed some similarities and differences in predictors between the models for total cases and deaths and for non-institutional cases and deaths (Table 2). Most notably, the strongly positive associations between LTCF beds per capita and total cases and deaths were sharply reduced to statistical non-significance in the non-institutional models, per our original hypotheses. All other variables had confidence intervals that overlapped between the total and non-institutional models, and estimates were similar across all remaining variables in both phases between total and non-institutional cases. However, a few substantive differences emerged in the IRR point estimates from models with total versus non-institutional deaths, albeit confidence levels overlapped. Associations between % Black, % Latinx, % aged over 80 years, and % essential workers and non-institutional deaths were greater than the associations with total deaths across both phases. The largest absolute difference was for the % Black variable in Phase 1 deaths, which was 1.20 (1.11, 1.30) for total deaths and 1.32 (1.23, 1.41) for non-institutional deaths.