More than one-third of adults in the U.S. have skipped or delayed necessary medical care due to fear of COVID-19 exposure and limited care access during the pandemic, according to research funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Researchers from the Urban Institute, a liberal-leaning policy research center in Washington, D.C., surveyed 4,007 adults under age 65 Sept. 11-28, 2020. Based on these survey results, researchers also published a separate analysis exploring how the pandemic has affected children's healthcare usage.
Five findings from the reports:
1. About 36 percent of adults reported skipping or delaying care during the pandemic, and nearly 29 percent of parents reported the same for their children.
2. One-third of adults who reported skipping care said one or more of their health issues worsened as a result.
3. Black adults were more likely to report delaying or skipping care (39.7 percent) compared to white or LatinX adults (34.3 percent and 35.5 percent, respectively). They were also more likely to report skipping several types of care services.
4. About 40.7 percent of adults with at least one chronic health issue reported skipping or delaying care, while 56.3 percent of respondents with both a physician and mental health condition reported the same.
5. About 15.6 percent of parents reported delaying or skipping several types of care for their children.
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