Reduced Healthcare Access Estimates During COVID-19 Pandemic

The National Center for Health Statistics produced experimental estimates of reduced access to healthcare for U.S. adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection occurred across three survey rounds between June 2020 and June 2021. The estimates measure the percentage of adults unable to receive various types of medical care in the last two months.

Use Cases

• Analyze the percentage of adults unable to receive urgent care, surgery, or screening tests in the last 2 months to assess pandemic-related healthcare disruptions.
• Compare estimates of unmet needs for prescriptions, dental care, and vision care across the three survey rounds (June 2020, August 2020, May-June 2021) to track changes over time.
• Study delayed care patterns for regular checkups and ongoing treatment to understand non-cost barriers like cancelled appointments or transportation issues during the pandemic.

Strengths

• Data originates from the National Center for Health Statistics, a federal agency.
• Provides experimental estimates from three distinct survey rounds conducted between June 2020 and June 2021.
• Focuses on a specific measure: percentage of U.S. adults unable to receive medical care in the last two months.

Limitations

• The data is experimental, with potential biases from different response patterns and sampling frames compared to core NCHS collections.
• Estimates are derived from surveys with lower sample sizes, leading to increased variability.
• The temporal coverage is limited to three specific periods during the pandemic, not a continuous series.

Provenance

Source

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Collection Method

Experimental estimates derived from the Research and Development Survey (RANDS) platform using probability-sampled commercial survey panels.

Time Range

Survey rounds conducted between June 9, 2020 and July 6, 2020, August 3, 2020 and August 20, 2020, and May 17, 2021 and June 30, 2021.

Freshness

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Geography

United States.