Survey: 1 in 5 parents delayed or skipped health care for kids during pandemic

Many parents, concerned about exposing their children to the coronavirus, have delayed or bypassed health care for their kids. That startling news is based on data from the Urban Institute’s April 2021 Health Reform Monitoring Survey (made public in August) and comes despite the fact that, at the time of the survey, children faced a lower risk of contracting the virus and becoming severely ill.

Specifically, almost one in five parents reported skipping care over the previous 12 months, while nearly one in 10 had done so in the previous 30 days.

“It’s not surprising given the timing of the survey ― April 2021 ― when many people couldn’t get a vaccine yet and were reporting delayed care because of concerns about exposure during the past 30 days,” study author Dulce Gonzalez, a research associate in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute, told Medscape Medical News.

Related: Delayed health care during pandemic taking a toll on many vulnerable children

According to the survey, which was based on responses from more than 9,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 64, dental care was the most common type of delayed or forgone care, followed by checkups, well-child visits or other preventive health screenings; general doctor or specialist visits; and routine immunizations. Additionally, parents with family incomes below 250% of the federal poverty level were more likely than those with higher incomes to report delaying or forgoing care for their children in the previous 30 days (12.3% versus 6.5%) and to miss out on multiple types of care (8.1% versus 3.3%). Parents with lower family incomes also were more likely to report that their children had unmet needs for dental care, check-ups, or other preventive care.

Mundeep Kainth, an instructor of molecular medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York (who was not involved in the survey) noted to Medscape Medical News that there are “advantages to the pediatrician visit that are not just about providing care but also providing guidance and advice to families and parents who are maybe struggling with certain issues that are above and beyond just the medical advice. That is probably the most tragic part of hearing that parents and kids are not going to the well visits, because that’s where families get a lot of support. And I think at this time, we probably need that more than ever.”

Researchers added that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other stakeholders, as well as use of state immunization registries, can help to identify children who have missed non-COVID vaccines. “Greater efforts by federal, state, and local governments, providers, and insurers are necessary to help children catch up on overdue preventive care and other needed health care,” they concluded.

Read more: 

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• 10 worst states for children’s health care
• Parents of young children going into debt because of COVID-19