Unmet Health Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Year 2023, Volume: 13 Issue: 1, 67 - 74, 28.03.2023

Aylin Yalçın Irmak , Aslıhan Ozturk Eyimaya

https://doi.org/10.33808/clinexphealthsci.1032287

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to identify the unmet health needs of adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reasons for these needs, solutions sought and socio-demographic determinants.
Methods: The cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 2,074 adult individuals from December 15 to December 31, 2020. Data were collected using Socio-demographic Data Collection Form, Unmet Health Needs Data Collection Form and World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL).
Results: The percentage of the participants who stated that they had unmet health needs was 66% and the most unmet needs reported were oral and dental treatment (46.3%), eye health and treatment for vision disorders (22.5%), and early diagnosis and annual health screening (11.4%). The reasons with the most impact on the emergence of these needs were fear of being infected with the virus (44.3%), lack of access to health care (42.7%) and not wanting to cause a burden on the health system. There was a significant difference between the groups with and without unmet health needs in terms of gender, economic status, presence of health insurance, presence of chronic disease, perception of health, and WHOQOL total scores.
Conclusion: The findings obtained will benefit policymakers in the rational use of limited resources and making strategic arrangements for needs.

Keywords

Adult, COVID-19, Coronavirus, Unmet Health Needs

Supporting Institution

-

Project Number

-

Thanks

-

References

• Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health, Koronavirüs alacağımız tedbirlerden güçlü değildir. (cited 2021 February 16). Available from: https://www.saglik.gov.tr/TR,64383/koronavirus-alacagimiz-tedbirlerden-guclu-degildir.html (Turkish)
• Coronavirus Update (Live). (cited 2022 January 18). Available from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
• Avaner T, Barbak A, Fedai R. Covid-19 Pandemisi ve Türkiye. Ankara: TİAV; 2021. (Turkish)
• Hamel L, Audrey K, Ashley K, Lunna L, Cailey M, Mollyann B. Impact of coronavirus on personal health, economic and food security, and medicaid. In KFF Health Tracking Poll. San Francisco: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 2020.
• Mehrotra A, Chernew M, Linetsky D, Hatch H, Cutler D, Schneider EC. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient care: visits return to prepandemic levels, but not for all providers and patients. (cited 2021 Oct 15) Available from: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2020/oct/impact-covid-19-pandemic-outpatient-care-visits-return-prepandemic-levels
• United States Census Bureau “Household Pulse Survey Data Tables,” (cited 2020 September 21). Available from: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html.
• Corallo B, Tolbert J. Impact of coronavirus on community health centers. San Francisco: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 2020.
• Gonzalez D, Stephen Z, Genevieve MK, Michael K. Almost half of adults in families losing work during the pandemic avoided health care because of costs or COVID-19 concerns. Washington, DC: Urban Institute 2020;11.
• Kretchy IA, Asiedu-Danso M, Kretchy JP. Medication management and adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives and experiences from low-and middle-income countries. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2021;17(1):2023-2026.
• Hossain MM, Mazumder H, Tasnim S, Nuzhath T, Sultana A. Geriatric health in bangladesh during COVID-19: Challenges and recommendations. J Gerontol Soc Work. 63(6-7):724-727.
• Wani FA, Rather RH, Ahmad M. Self-reported unmet healthcare needs during coronavirus disease-19 pandemic lockdown. Int J Med Public Health 2020;9(9):503-507.
• Plachouri KM, Georgiou S. How well prepared are dermatologists redeployed to COVID-19 wards? Int J Dermatol. 2020;59:e247-8.
• Yetim B, Çelik Y. Sağlık hizmetlerine erişim: karşılanmamış ihtiyaçlar sorunu. Toplum ve Sosyal Hizmet 2020;31(2):423-440. (Turkish)
• Andersen R. Health status indices and access to medical care. Am J Public Health 1978;68(5):458-463.
• Allin S, Masseria C. Unmet needs as an indicator of health care access. Eurohealth 2009;15(3):7-9
• Casey R. Disability and unmet health care needs in Canada: a longitudinal analysis. Disabil Health J. 2015;8(2):173-181.
• Weissman JS, Gatsonis C, Epstein AM. Rates of avoidable hospitalization by insurance status in Massachusetts and Maryland. JAMA 1992;268(17):2388-2394.
• Adler NE, Boyce WT, Chesney MA, Folkman S, Syme SL. Socioeconomic inequalities in health: no easy solution. JAMA 1993;269(24):3140-3145.
• Elston JWT, Cartwright C, Ndumbi P, Wright J. The health impact of the 2014–15 Ebola outbreak. Public Health 2017;143:60-70.
• Parpia AS, Ndeffo-Mbah ML, Wenzel NS, Galvani AP. Effects of response to 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak on deaths from malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis, West Africa. Emerg Infect Dis. 2016;22(3):433-441.
• World Health Organization. COVID-19: Operational guidance for maintaining core health services during an outbreak. (cited 2020 September 21). Available from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331561/WHO-2019-nCoV-essential_health_services-2020.1-eng.pdf
• Tulchinsky TH, Varavikova EA. Planning and managing health systems in The New Public Health 3rd ed. San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press; 2014. P.613-641.
• Allin S, Grignon M, Le Grand J. Subjective unmet need and utilization of health care services in Canada: what are the equity implications? Soc Sci Med. 2010;70(3):465-472.
• Cavalieri M. Geographical variation of unmet medical needs in Italy: a multivariate logistic regression analysis. Int J Health Geogr. 2013;12(27):1–11.
• Smith S, Connolly S. Re-thinking unmet need for health care: Introducing a dynamic perspective. Health Economics, Policy and Law 2020;15(4):440-457.
• Eser E, Fidaner H, Fidaner C, Eser SY, Elbi H, Göker E. Psychometric properties of WHOQOL-100 and WHOQOL-Bref. J Psychiatry Psychol Psychopharmacol. 1999;7(2):23-40.
• Ray KN, Ettinger AK, Dwarakanath N, Mistry SV, Bey J, Chaves-Gnecco D, Alston KA, Ripper L, Lavage DR, Landsittel DP, Miller E. Rapid-cycle community assessment of health-related social needs of children and families during COVID-19. Acad Pediatr. 2021;21(4):677-683
• Assari S, Hani N. Household income and children’s unmet dental care need; Blacks’ diminished return. Dent J. 2018;6(2):1-10.
• Chaupain-Guillot S, Guillot O. Health system characteristics and unmet care needs in Europe: an analysis based on EU-SILC data. The European Journal of Health Economics 2015;16:781-796.
• Karpman M, Dulce G, Genevieve MK. Parents are struggling to provide for their families during the pandemic. Urban Institute (cited 2020). Available from: https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/102254/parents-are-struggling-to-provide-for-their-families-during-the-pandemic_2.pdf
• Wang T, Molassiotis A, Chung BPM, Tan JY. Unmet care needs of advanced cancer patients and their informal caregivers: a systematic review. BMC Palliative Care 2018;17(1):1-29.
• Willems RA, Bolman CA, Mesters I, Kanera IM, Beaulen AA, Lechner L. Cancer survivors in the first year after treatment: the prevalence and correlates of unmet needs in different domains. Psycho‐Oncology 2016;25(1):51-57.
• Edib Z, Kumarasamy V., Binti Abdullah N, Rizal AM, Al-Dubai SA. Most prevalent unmet supportive care needs and quality of life of breast cancer patients in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia. Health Qual Life Outcomes 2016;14(26):1-10
• Fact Sheet: Service Use among medicaid and chip beneficiaries age 18 and under during COVID-19, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (cited 2020 September 5). Available from https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-service-use-among-medicaid-chip-beneficiaries-age-18-and-under-during-covid-19.
• Kirzinger A, Audrey K, Liz H, Mollyann B. KFF Health Tracking Poll – Early April 2020: The impact of coronavirus on life in America. San Francisco: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation 2020.
• Panchal N, Kamal R, Orgera K, Cox C, Garfield R, Hamel L. The implications of COVID-19 for mental health and substance use. Kaiser Family Foundation. 21 April 2020. (cited 2022 January 110). Available from: https://www. kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-ofcovid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/
• Campbella J, Koca F. Financing and protection for the health and care workforce. Bull World Health Organ 2021;99(1):2.
• Au SCL. Revisiting the role of telemedicine under the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak. Eur J Geriatr Gerontol. 2020;2(1):26-27.
• Capacı M, Özkaya S. COVID-19 pandemi döneminde tele-tıp uygulamaları. Anatolian Clinic the Journal of Medical Sciences 2020; 25(Special Issue):260-262. (Turkish)