Associations of the COVID-19 pandemic with older individuals' healthcare utilization and self-reported health status: a longitudinal analysis from Singapore.
BMC Health Serv Res
; 22(1): 66, 2022 Jan 14.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35031040
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the capacity of healthcare systems around the world and can potentially compromise healthcare utilization and health outcomes among non-COVID-19 patients.OBJECTIVES:
To examine the associations of the COVID-19 pandemic with healthcare utilization, out-of-pocket medical costs, and perceived health among middle-aged and older individuals in Singapore.METHOD:
Utilizing data collected from a monthly panel survey, a difference-in-differences approach was used to characterize monthly changes of healthcare use and spending and estimate the probability of being diagnosed with a chronic condition and self-reported health status before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.SUBJECTS:
Data were analyzed from 7569 nationally representative individuals from 2019 January and 2020 December.MEASURES:
Healthcare utilization and healthcare spending by medical service categories as well as self-reported health status.RESULTS:
Between January and April 2020 (the first peak period of COVID-19 in Singapore), doctor visits decreased by 30%, and out-of-pocket medical spending decreased by 23%, mostly driven by reductions in inpatient and outpatient care. As a result, the probability of any diagnosis of chronic conditions decreased by 19% in April 2020. The decreased healthcare utilization and spending recovered after lifting the national lockdown in June, 2020 and remained similar to the pre-pandemic level through the rest of 2020.CONCLUSIONS:
Middle-aged and older Singaporeans' healthcare utilization and the diagnosis of chronic conditions substantially decreased during the first peak period of the COVID-19 outbreak. Further studies to track the longer-term health effect of the pandemic among non-COVID-19 patients are warranted.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article