Perceptions of healthcare access among Lithuanians aged 65 and over during the COVID-19 pandemic.

IF 3 3区医学 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Frontiers in Public Health Pub Date : 2025-03-04 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1504049

Vytenis Kalibatas, Snieguole Kaseliene, Ramune Kalediene, Olga Mesceriakova, Skirmante Sauliune

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aim: This study investigates the perceived accessibility of healthcare services among older adults in Lithuania during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is significant as it sheds light on geographical, organizational, and financial healthcare access issues encountered by the older population.

Methods: Conducted in January 2024, the study involved an anonymous questionnaire survey of 1,503 Lithuanian residents aged 65 and older.

Results: The most frequently utilized healthcare services were consultations with a general practitioner (75.4%) 22.0% of respondents reported not receiving any healthcare services. 53.5% respondents were satisfied with travel time to specialists. Common challenges included difficulties in getting appointments with specialists (53.9%) and dentists (36.2%). Financial barriers led to unmet healthcare needs: 12.6% of the respondents did not receive needed services, 12.8% did not undergo recommended tests, and 14.2% did not purchase prescribed medications. Healthcare services were less accessible to elders with lower education, lower incomes, and those who self-rated health poorly (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Most respondents received the healthcare they needed during the pandemic and rated geographical access positively. However, some problems in organizational and financial access were disclosed. The observed social gradient indicates that socioeconomic factors significantly influence healthcare access, potentially increasing vulnerability among certain groups.

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来源期刊

Frontiers in Public Health Medicine-Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

7.70%

发文量

4469

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Public Health is a multidisciplinary open-access journal which publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research and is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians, policy makers and the public worldwide. The journal aims at overcoming current fragmentation in research and publication, promoting consistency in pursuing relevant scientific themes, and supporting finding dissemination and translation into practice. Frontiers in Public Health is organized into Specialty Sections that cover different areas of research in the field. Please refer to the author guidelines for details on article types and the submission process.