US adults with post-COVID-19 illness more likely to face health care access and affordability issues [Beuzz]

In a recent study published in the journal Open JAMA Network, researchers investigated the challenges faced by adults in the United States (US) aged 18-64 with post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (PCC) in accessing health care affordable.

Study: Health care access and affordability among US adults ages 18-64 with self-reported post-COVID-19 condition. Image Credit: DmitryDemidovich/Shutterstock.com

Background

The post-COVID-19 state or post-acute sequelae of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), commonly known as long coronavirus disease (long COVID), is the persistence of COVID-19 symptoms long after recovery from acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Symptoms typically consist of fatigue, loss of taste and smell, post-exercise malaise, shortness of breath, musculoskeletal pain, and cognitive impairment, although the severity and duration of these symptoms vary between patients.

Studies have reported that the incidence of PCC could be from 5% to over 20%. Ongoing research also indicates that the risk of PCC is higher in people with comorbidities, women, and unvaccinated people.

Chronic fatigue, myalgic encephalomyelitis, and other PCC symptoms can present challenges in accessing the healthcare system and overcoming barriers such as lack of accessibility to clinicians, denial of health insurance, and lack of clinicians’ knowledge of PCC. These challenges could exacerbate PCC symptoms and reduce overall quality of life.

About the study

In the current study, researchers used data from the Health Reform Tracking Survey conducted between June 17 and July 5, 2022. Respondents to this survey were recruited nationally, covering nearly 97% of households in the United States.

Participants included adults between the ages of 18 and 64, spanning white, Asian, Hispanic, black and other races, from high and low income households. The survey was administered in Spanish and English.

The survey asked participants whether they had been told by a doctor or health care professional or tested about COVID-19.

Participants who answered yes were asked if they had symptoms of COVID-19 for more than four weeks after recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Participants were also asked to describe their long-term symptoms. Based on the responses, the study population was categorized into three groups: people currently suffering from PCC, people diagnosed with COVID-19 but not having undergone PCC, and people who have never received diagnosis of COVID-19.

Respondents were also asked about various healthcare access outcomes, such as having a regular healthcare location and not being able to afford visits from a doctor or specialist, medical tests, prescription medications, follow-ups and treatments over the past year.

Other measures included difficulty transporting to the clinic, finding a clinician, and getting appointments. The inability to pay past and current unpaid medical bills was also questioned.

Difficulties in accessing health care were analyzed on the basis of demographic factors such as age, gender, level of education, citizenship status, race and ethnicity, which were obtained from from a household profile questionnaire.

The analysis focused on race and ethnicity as major drivers of disparities in access to health facilities and CCP prevalence.

Additional information about the presence of dependent children, marital status, and diagnosis of one or more physical conditions, including high cholesterol, stroke, hypertension, cancer, heart disease, l asthma, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lupus, arthritis, fibromyalgia and gout were also obtained.

Results

The results indicated that adults aged 18 to 64 with PCC had a higher likelihood of having difficulty accessing and paying for health care than other adults. Of the 9,484 people who responded to all aspects of the survey, 3,382 said they had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 833 currently had symptoms of PCC.

After adjusting for geographic, health, and demographic factors, the results indicated that compared to people who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 but had no symptoms of PCC and people who had never received diagnosis of COVID-19; people who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and had PCC had faced challenges in the areas of health care costs, finding clinicians, getting appointments on time, and getting an authorization for a healthcare plan.

Clinicians’ lack of knowledge about PCC, PCC patients ignoring multidisciplinary PCC clinics, insufficient coordination and urgency of established federal PCC initiatives, and barriers related to insurance reimbursements were some of the major areas of difficulty.

conclusion

Overall, the results indicated that US adults aged 18-64 who had symptoms of PCC were likely to have more difficulty accessing healthcare facilities and paying for the cost of treatment than adults who did not. had no CCP.

These challenges could have long-term implications for disability, quality of life and labor market participation.

Written by

Dr Chinta Sidharthan

Chinta Sidharthan is a writer based in Bangalore, India. Her academic background is in evolutionary biology and genetics, and she has extensive experience in scientific research, teaching, scientific writing, and herpetology. Chinta holds a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology from the Indian Institute of Science and is passionate about science education, writing, animals, wildlife, and conservation. For her doctoral research, she explored the origins and diversification of blind snakes in India, in which she carried out extensive fieldwork in the jungles of southern India. She was awarded the Bronze Medal by the Governor General of Canada and the Gold Medal by Bangalore University for Academic Excellence and has published her research in high impact journals.

Background

About the study

Results

conclusion

Dr Chinta Sidharthan

Quotes