Published in:
01-11-2020 | Coronavirus | Concise Research Report
Associations between Anxiety and Depression Symptoms and Medical Care Avoidance during COVID-19
Authors:
Kyle T. Ganson, PhD, MSW, Sheri D. Weiser, MD, MPH, Alexander C. Tsai, MD, Jason M. Nagata, MD, MSc
Published in:
Journal of General Internal Medicine
|
Issue 11/2020
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Excerpt
Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, emergency health care utilization has acutely declined by 23% for heart attacks, 20% for strokes, and 10% for hyperglycemic crises.
1 Ambulatory visits have also declined by nearly 60%.
2 The lack of health care utilization is concerning as it may result in significant medical complications resulting from untreated medical problems.
1 Little is known about what is driving these declines in health care utilization. A study from Italy suggested that fear of COVID-19 infection may be one such factor.
3 Recent research has documented pervasive anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.
4, 5 We conducted this study to estimate the association between mental health symptoms and medical care avoidance among US adults. …