COVID-19 and Its Impact on Older Adults’ Routine and Urgent Health Care Visits

Older adults have not only been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but relatedly, are also more vulnerable to other health problems. Moreover, previous research on epidemics shows that health care services are often disrupted during health crises—leading to less access to and lower utilization of health services unrelated to the health crisis. The primary aim of this research is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both routine and urgent health care visits. Using data collected in December 2020 on adults ages 54 to 100 living in one of nine senior living communities (SLCs) in the state of Nebraska (n = 723), logistic regression models were used to investigate correlates of missed health care visits, adjusting for sociodemographic and health characteristics. The results show that 58% of older adults in SLCs skipped or postponed a routine health care visit due to the pandemic, whereas 8% of older adults missed an urgent health care visit. The results further reveal that older adults with better perceived health (p < 0.05), higher life satisfaction (p < 0.01), and higher resilience (p < 0.05) all had lower odds of missing a routine health care visit due to the pandemic. In contrast, those who missed an urgent health care visit were more likely to have higher perceived financial strain (p < 0.05). The findings from this study demonstrate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults’ health care utilization, which may have serious implications for their long-term health.