Missed and Delayed Preventive Health Care Visits Among US Children Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Public Health Rep
; 137(2): 336-343, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1582748
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a substantial drop in US children's preventive care, which had not fully rebounded by the end of 2020. We sought to estimate the overall prevalence of missed, skipped, or delayed preventive checkups among households with children in the last 12 months because of the pandemic.METHODS:
We used data from the US Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, Phase 3.1 (collected April-May 2021). The analytic sample included 48 824 households with ≥1 child or adolescent aged <18 years. We estimated both national and state-level prevalences, examined associations with sociodemographic and household characteristics, and described reasons for missed or delayed preventive visits.RESULTS:
Overall, 26.4% (95% CI, 25.5%-27.2%) of households reported that ≥1 child or adolescent had missed or delayed a preventive visit because of COVID-19; percentages varied by state, from 17.9% in Wyoming to 37.0% in Vermont. The prevalence of missed or delayed preventive visits was significantly higher among respondents who reported material hardships (ie, not caught up on rent/mortgage, difficulty paying usual household expenses, children not eating enough because of lack of affordability) than among respondents who did not report material hardships. The most common reasons for missing or delaying preventive visits were concern about visiting a health care provider, limited appointment availability, and the provider's location being closed.CONCLUSIONS:
Programs and policies could reduce gaps in children's preventive care caused by the pandemic, with a particular focus on addressing social determinants of health.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Preventive Health Services
/
Child Health Services
/
COVID-19
/
Health Services Misuse
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Humans
/
Infant
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Public Health Rep
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
00333549211061322
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