Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
Int J Public Health. 2024 Sep 30;69:1607336. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2024.1607336. eCollection 2024.
To examine how unmet healthcare needs and the exposure to the pandemic impacted self-reported health (SRH) among individuals aged 50 and above.
We use data from two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Corona Survey collected in 2020 and 2021 in 27 European countries and Israel ( = 42,854). Three dimensions of barriers to healthcare access were investigated: healthcare forgone, postponed, and denied. Mixed-effects logistic regression analysis was employed to explore SRH deterioration during the pandemic.
Findings indicate that unmet healthcare needs decreased throughout the pandemic but significantly contributed to the worsening of SRH among older adults. Mild or severe exposure to the pandemic heightened the likelihood of reporting deteriorated SRH. Additionally, the pandemic disproportionately affected females, the oldest-old, and those living alone or facing economic vulnerability.
To mitigate the adverse effects on the health status of older adults, policymakers are strongly advised to prioritize addressing the healthcare needs of those who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
研究未满足的医疗保健需求和大流行暴露如何影响 50 岁及以上人群的自我报告健康状况（SRH）。
我们使用了欧洲健康、老龄化和退休调查（SHARE）冠状病毒调查的两个波次的数据，这些数据于 2020 年和 2021 年在 27 个欧洲国家和以色列收集（=42854）。调查了获得医疗保健的三个方面的障碍：放弃医疗保健、推迟医疗保健和拒绝医疗保健。采用混合效应逻辑回归分析来探讨大流行期间 SRH 的恶化情况。
研究结果表明，未满足的医疗保健需求在整个大流行期间有所减少，但却显著导致了老年人 SRH 的恶化。轻度或重度暴露于大流行增加了报告 SRH 恶化的可能性。此外，大流行不成比例地影响了女性、最年长的老年人、独居者或面临经济脆弱性的人。
为了减轻大流行对老年人健康状况的不利影响，强烈建议政策制定者优先解决那些受大流行影响不成比例的人的医疗保健需求。
