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Economic vulnerability and unmet healthcare needs among the population aged 50 + years during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

Author

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  • Louis Arnault

    (Université Paris-Dauphine, Université PSL)

  • Florence Jusot

    (Université Paris-Dauphine, Université PSL
    IRDES (Institut de Recherche et Documentation en Economie de la Santé))

  • Thomas Renaud

    (Université Paris-Dauphine, Université PSL)

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of economic vulnerability on unmet needs during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in Europe among adults aged 50 years and older using data from the regular administration of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the specific telephone survey administered regarding COVID-19 (SHARE Corona Survey). It addressed three main research questions: Did people who were in difficult economic situations before the epidemic face more barriers to accessing healthcare than others? If so, to what extent can these discrepancies be attributed to initial differences in health status, use of care, income or education between vulnerable individuals and non-vulnerable individuals or to differential effects of the pandemic on these groups? Did the effect of economic vulnerability with regard to unmet needs during the pandemic differ across countries? Unmet healthcare needs are characterised by three types of behaviours likely to be induced by the pandemic: forgoing care for fear of contracting COVID-19, having pre-scheduled care postponed and being unable to obtain medical appointments or treatments when needed. Our results substantiate the existence of significant differences in accessing healthcare during the pandemic according to economic vulnerability and of cumulative effects of economic and medical vulnerabilities: the impact of economic vulnerability is notably stronger among those who were in poor health before the outbreak and thus the oldest individuals. The cross-country comparison highlighted heterogeneous effects of economic vulnerability on forgoing care and having care postponed among countries, which are not comparable to the initial cross-country differences in social inequalities in access to healthcare.

Suggested Citation

  • Louis Arnault & Florence Jusot & Thomas Renaud, 2022. "Economic vulnerability and unmet healthcare needs among the population aged 50 + years during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 811-825, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:19:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10433-021-00645-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-021-00645-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thorsten Kneip & Axel Börsch-Supan & Karen Andersen-Ranberg, 2022. "Social, health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from a European perspective," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 789-792, December.

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