Delay or postponement of medical care among older adults in the Netherlands at earlier and later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract Aims The aim of the current study was to compare cancellations or postponement of medical care among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2021 and 2020. Methods Data of respondents aged ≥ 62 years were used from the longitudinal aging study Amsterdam (LASA), collected in 2020 and 2021, directly after the main COVID-19 waves in the Netherlands. A questionnaire assessed cancellations of medical care and postponed help-seeking behavior. Descriptive analyses were performed. Results Overall, cancellations declined from 35% in 2020 (sample n = 1128) to 17% in 2021 (sample n = 1... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | Artikel |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2022 |
Reihe/Periodikum: | Aging Clinical and Experimental Research ; volume 34, issue 11, page 2913-2917 ; ISSN 1720-8319 |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
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Schlagwörter: | Geriatrics and Gerontology / Aging |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27236573 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40520-022-02266-x |
Abstract Aims The aim of the current study was to compare cancellations or postponement of medical care among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2021 and 2020. Methods Data of respondents aged ≥ 62 years were used from the longitudinal aging study Amsterdam (LASA), collected in 2020 and 2021, directly after the main COVID-19 waves in the Netherlands. A questionnaire assessed cancellations of medical care and postponed help-seeking behavior. Descriptive analyses were performed. Results Overall, cancellations declined from 35% in 2020 (sample n = 1128) to 17% in 2021 (sample n = 1020). Healthcare-initiated cancellations declined from 29 to 8%. Respondent-initiated cancellations declined from 12 to 7%. Postponed help-seeking remained around 8%. Conclusions In 2021, less cancellations were reported compared to just after the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, while postponed help-seeking remained the same. It is important to investigate how cancellations and postponed help-seeking can be prevented in future pandemics.