Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access and use of health services by middle-aged and older Australians
Lorraine Ivancic A B , Diana M. Bond
A * and Natasha Nassar A B
A Child Population and Translational Health Research, Children’s Hospital at Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, 2nd Floor, Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
B Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, 2nd Floor, Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Australian Health Review 47(1) 100-109 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH22183
Submitted: 1 August 2022 Accepted: 1 November 2022 Published: 18 November 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).
Abstract
Objectives To examine: the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on access to health services by middle-aged and older Australians; and the use of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic and its ongoing usefulness.
Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among participants who completed the COVID-19 supplement in the 45 and Up Study 2020 Survey. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between socio-demographic characteristics and health conditions with missed/delayed access to health services, changes in health outcomes resulting from missed/delayed access, and use of telehealth services.
Results Data for 45 071 participants were analysed (56% female, 72% aged ≥65 years). Almost half (42.2%) reported they had missed/delayed access to health care due to COVID-19; mainly for dental services (26.1%), visits to a general practitioner (GP) (16.3%) and specialists (12.6%). Missed/delayed visits to GPs and specialists were more likely among females, participants from non-English-speaking backgrounds, with disability/illness, living in outer regional/remote areas or with chronic health conditions. People with a disability or high/very high psychological distress were twice as likely to report worse health as a result of missed/delayed care. Half (48.0%) the study participants used telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic and 81.9% indicated telehealth would be useful post-pandemic.
Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic impacted access to healthcare services, particularly for people with a disability, and chronic or mental health issues who also reported worse health. This may account for their higher use of telehealth services as an alternate way of accessing health care. Ongoing evaluation of telehealth services for vulnerable groups post-pandemic is required.
Keywords: chronic disease, COVID-19, health services, mental health, population surveys, telehealth.
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