Health-care-seeking behaviours of the Japanese lay public during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study
Kyoko Kitazawa 1 4 , Yasuharu Tokuda 2 , Shunzo Koizumi 31 Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, Kyoto, Japan.
2 Department of Medicine, Muribushi Okinawa Center for Teaching Hospitals, Okinawa, Japan.
3 Shichi-jo Clinic, Kyoto, Japan.
4 Corresponding author. Email: kyokokitazawa@hotmail.co.jp
Journal of Primary Health Care 13(4) 351-358 https://doi.org/10.1071/HC21009
Published: 23 December 2021
Journal Compilation © Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners 2021 This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Owing to a decrease in visits to health-care facilities due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the health-care-seeking behaviour of the Japanese lay public has yet to be adequately clarified.
AIM: To explore health-care-seeking behaviour of the Japanese lay public during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
METHODS: We conducted a web-based questionnaire survey in September 2020 to enquire about visits to health-care facilities for disease treatment and preventive services (health check-ups or cancer screening tests) during two periods: mid-February to May 2020 and from June to September 2020. Survey respondents were selected from people who voluntarily registered with a Japanese consumer research company, excluding health-care workers. Respondents’ residence and sex were adjusted to represent the Japanese population. Survey results were aggregated after anonymizing respondents’ personal information.
RESULTS: In total, 2137 people responded to the survey. The proportion of respondents who avoided new and follow-up visits to health-care facilities were 31.1% and 25.0%, respectively, in the first period and 19.1% and 12.5%, respectively, in the second period. In both periods, dentistry and general medicine were the most avoided health-care sites. Trying to avoid infection was the main motivation for this behaviour. Nearly half of respondents stated that they would not visit health facilities after the COVID-19 infection became controlled.
DISCUSSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese lay public indicated that they would avoid new and follow-up visits to health-care facilities. The highlighted changes in health-care-seeking behaviour may be long-term, even after COVID-19 is under control.
KEYwords: COVID-19; health-care-seeking behaviour; internet survey.
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