Open Access
Open access
Springer Nature
Human Genomics
,  volume 19 ,  issue 1 ,  publication number 18

Causal effects of education, intelligence, and income on COVID-19: evidence from a Mendelian randomization study

Yuqing Song 1, 2
, 
ANCHA BARANOVA 3, 4
, 
HONGBAO CAO 3
, 
Weihua Yue 1, 2, 5, 6
, 
Fuquan Zhang 7, 8
1
 
2
 
3
 
4
 
5
 
6
 
7
 
8
 
Publication type: Journal Article
Publication date: 2025-02-25
Springer Nature
scimago Q1
wos Q1
SJR: 1.381
CiteScore: 5.4
Impact factor: 4.3
ISSN: 14739542, 14797364
Abstract
Background

The protective effects of higher educational attainment (EA) and intelligence on COVID-19 outcomes are not yet understood with regard to their dependency on income. The objective of our study was to examine the overall as well as independent effects of the three psychosocial factors on the susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19. To accomplish this, we utilized genetic correlation, Mendelian randomization (MR), and multivariable MR (MVMR) analyses to evaluate genetic associations between EA, intelligence, household income, and three specific COVID-19 outcomes: SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalized COVID-19, and critical COVID-19.

Results

The genetic correlation analysis revealed that COVID-19 outcomes were negatively correlated with the three psychosocial factors (rg: -0.19‒-0.36). The MR analysis indicated that genetic liability to EA, intelligence, and income exerted overall protective effects against SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR: 0.86‒0.92), hospitalized COVID-19 (OR: 0.70‒0.80), and critical COVID-19 (OR: 0.65‒0.85). MVMR analysis revealed that elevated levels of EA conferred independent protective effects against SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR: 0.85), hospitalization due to COVID-19 (OR: 0.79), and critical COVID-19 (OR: 0.63). Furthermore, intelligence exhibited a negative association with the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR: 0.91), whereas a higher income was linked to an elevated risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR: 1.13).

Conclusions

Our findings indicated that EA could significantly reduce the risk and severity of COVID-19, regardless of intelligence and income. However, the impact of intelligence or income on COVID-19 severity was not supported by our research.

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GOST Copy
Song Y. et al. Causal effects of education, intelligence, and income on COVID-19: evidence from a Mendelian randomization study // Human Genomics. 2025. Vol. 19. No. 1. 18
GOST all authors (up to 50) Copy
Song Y., BARANOVA A., CAO H., Yue W., Zhang F. Causal effects of education, intelligence, and income on COVID-19: evidence from a Mendelian randomization study // Human Genomics. 2025. Vol. 19. No. 1. 18
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RIS Copy
TY - JOUR
DO - 10.1186/s40246-025-00731-y
UR - https://humgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40246-025-00731-y
TI - Causal effects of education, intelligence, and income on COVID-19: evidence from a Mendelian randomization study
T2 - Human Genomics
AU - Song, Yuqing
AU - BARANOVA, ANCHA
AU - CAO, HONGBAO
AU - Yue, Weihua
AU - Zhang, Fuquan
PY - 2025
DA - 2025/02/25
PB - Springer Nature
IS - 1
VL - 19
SN - 1473-9542
SN - 1479-7364
ER -
BibTex
Cite this
BibTex (up to 50 authors) Copy
@article{2025_Song,
author = {Yuqing Song and ANCHA BARANOVA and HONGBAO CAO and Weihua Yue and Fuquan Zhang},
title = {Causal effects of education, intelligence, and income on COVID-19: evidence from a Mendelian randomization study},
journal = {Human Genomics},
year = {2025},
volume = {19},
publisher = {Springer Nature},
month = {feb},
url = {https://humgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40246-025-00731-y},
number = {1},
pages = {18},
doi = {10.1186/s40246-025-00731-y}
}