Alcohol Research Group, 6001 Shellmound St., Suite 450, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA.
Alcohol Research Group, 6001 Shellmound St., Suite 450, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA.
Prev Med. 2023 Apr;169:107426. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2023.107426. Epub 2023 Jan 26.
Wide-ranging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to increased psychological distress and alcohol consumption, and disproportionate hardship for disadvantaged groups. Early in the pandemic, telehealth services were expanded to maintain healthcare access amidst lockdowns, medical office closures, and fear of infection. This study examines general and behavioral healthcare access and disparities during the first year of the pandemic. Data are from the 2019-2020 US National Alcohol Survey (collected February 2019 to April 2020) and its COVID follow-up survey conducted January 30 to March 28, 2021 (N = 1819). General and behavioral healthcare-related outcomes were assessed at follow-up, and included perceived need for and receipt of care, delayed care, and use of telehealth since April 1, 2020. Results indicate that the majority of respondents with perceived need for healthcare received some behavioral healthcare (reported by 63%) and particularly general healthcare (88%), but nearly half (48%) delayed needed care. Delays were mostly due to COVID-related reasons, but cost barriers also were common and significantly impeded care-seeking by uninsured persons, young adults, rural residents, and persons whose employment was reduced by the pandemic. Disparities in the receipt of healthcare were pronounced for Hispanic/Latinx (vs. White) and lower-income (vs. higher-income) groups (AORs <0.37, p's < 0.05). Notably, telehealth was commonly used by Hispanic/Latinx and lower-income groups for general and particularly behavioral healthcare. Results suggest that telehealth has provided an important bridge to healthcare for certain medically underserved groups during the pandemic, and may be vital to future efforts to increase equity in healthcare access.
新冠疫情的广泛影响导致心理困扰和酒精消费增加,弱势群体承受了不成比例的困难。在疫情早期,扩大了远程医疗服务以维持医疗保健服务,以应对封锁、医疗办公室关闭和对感染的恐惧。本研究考察了疫情第一年期间的一般和行为医疗保健的获取和差异。数据来自 2019-2020 年美国国家酒精调查(于 2019 年 2 月至 2020 年 4 月收集)及其 COVID 后续调查,该调查于 2021 年 1 月 30 日至 3 月 28 日进行(N=1819)。在随访时评估了一般和行为医疗保健相关的结果,包括感知到的医疗保健需求和获得情况、延迟护理以及自 2020 年 4 月 1 日以来使用远程医疗的情况。结果表明,大多数有医疗保健需求的受访者都获得了某种行为医疗保健(报告比例为 63%),特别是一般医疗保健(报告比例为 88%),但近一半(48%)的人延迟了需要的护理。延迟的主要原因是与 COVID 相关的原因,但成本障碍也很常见,严重阻碍了没有保险的人、年轻人、农村居民和因疫情而减少就业的人寻求护理。在医疗保健的获得方面,西班牙裔/拉丁裔(与白人相比)和低收入(与高收入相比)群体存在明显差异(优势比<0.37,p 值<0.05)。值得注意的是,西班牙裔/拉丁裔和低收入群体通常使用远程医疗来获得一般和特别是行为医疗保健。研究结果表明,远程医疗在疫情期间为某些医疗服务不足的群体提供了通往医疗保健的重要桥梁,并且对于未来增加医疗保健获取公平性的努力可能至关重要。
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