Reduced Access to Preventive Care Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, by Chronic Disease Status and Race and Hispanic Origin, United States, 2020-2021.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. The National Center for Health Statistics adapted the Research and Development Survey (RANDS), a commercial panel survey, to track selected health outcomes during the pandemic using the series RANDS during COVID-19 (RC-19). We examined access to preventive care among adults by chronic condition status, race, and Hispanic origin.

Methods: NORC at the University of Chicago conducted RC-19 among US adults in 3 rounds (June-July 2020 [round 1, N = 6800], August 2020 [round 2, N = 5981], and May-June 2021 [round 3, N = 5458]) via online survey and telephone. We evaluated reduced access to ≥1 type of preventive care due to the pandemic in the past 2 months for each round by using logistic regression analysis stratified by chronic condition status and race and Hispanic origin, adjusting for sociodemographic and health variables.

Results: Overall, 35.8% of US adults reported missing ≥1 type of preventive care in the previous 2 months in round 1, 26.0% in round 2, and 11.2% in round 3. Reduced access to preventive care was significantly higher among adults with ≥1 chronic condition (vs no chronic conditions) in rounds 1 and 2 (adjusted odds ratios [aOR)] = 1.5 and 1.4, respectively). Compared with non-Hispanic White adults, non-Hispanic Black adults reported significantly lower reduced access to preventive care in round 1 (aOR = 0.7), and non-Hispanic Other adults reported significantly higher reduced access to preventive care in round 2 (aOR = 1.5).

Conclusions: Our findings may inform policies and programs for people at risk of reduced access to preventive care.