National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, 323 Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si Gyeonggi-do 10408, Republic of Korea; Department of Family Medicine, National Cancer Center, 323 Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang-si Gyeonggi-do 10408, Republic of Korea.
Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Cheongju University, 298, Daeseong-ro, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Republic of Korea.
J Infect Public Health. 2022 Aug;15(8):915-921. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2022.07.003. Epub 2022 Jul 8.
COVID-19 has brought changes in daily life and increased the medical burden. This study aims to evaluate the delays in healthcare services and related factors in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We took a nationally representative sample and conducted a mobile phone-based survey. The study was conducted anonymously. Of the 3377 subjects who consented to participate, a total of 2097 finished the survey. The primary outcome was respondents' experiences with delayed (1) health screenings, (2) non-urgent medical visits, (3) medical visits for chronic disease, and (4) emergency visits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of 2097 respondents, females, residents of the Seoul metropolitan area, those with private insurance, those without chronic diseases, smokers, and drinkers had higher risk of delays in health screening and non-urgent medical visits after adjustment. Among chronic disease patients, those who were over 60 years old (adjusted odds ratio 0.36, 95% CI 0.14-0.92) showed lower risk of delayed medical visit. Residents of the Seoul metropolitan area, those with private insurance, smokers, and drinkers were all associated with experiencing delayed health screening and non-urgent medical visits had higher risk of delays in chronic disease visits and emergent medical visits.
Delayed access to healthcare services is associated with poor outcomes and may cause different complications. Efforts are needed to prevent delays in medical use due to infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Considering the possibility of the emergence of infectious diseases, various countermeasures are needed to prevent delays in medical visit.
COVID-19 改变了人们的日常生活方式，并增加了医疗负担。本研究旨在评估 COVID-19 大流行期间普通人群的医疗服务延迟及其相关因素。
我们采用了全国代表性样本，并进行了基于移动电话的调查。研究是匿名进行的。在 3377 名同意参与的受试者中，共有 2097 名完成了调查。主要结果是受访者在 COVID-19 大流行期间经历的（1）健康筛查延迟、（2）非紧急医疗就诊延迟、（3）慢性病就诊延迟和（4）急诊就诊延迟。
在 2097 名受访者中，女性、首尔大都市地区居民、有私人保险、无慢性病、吸烟者和饮酒者在调整后更有可能延迟健康筛查和非紧急医疗就诊。在慢性病患者中，60 岁以上的患者（调整后的优势比 0.36，95%置信区间 0.14-0.92）就诊延迟的风险较低。首尔大都市地区居民、有私人保险、吸烟者和饮酒者均与健康筛查和非紧急医疗就诊延迟相关，慢性病就诊和急诊就诊延迟的风险较高。
延迟获得医疗服务与不良结局相关，可能导致不同的并发症。需要努力防止因 COVID-19 等传染病而导致医疗使用延迟。考虑到传染病出现的可能性，需要采取各种对策来防止医疗就诊的延迟。
