Award Date

12-1-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

Healthcare Administration and Policy

First Committee Member

Neeraj Bhandari

Second Committee Member

Soumya Upadhyay

Third Committee Member

Jay Shen

Fourth Committee Member

Jinyoung Kim

Abstract

Covid-19, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. The pandemic-related disruptions and the pursuant lockdowns have adversely impacted every aspect of people’s lives including access to medical care, cancer care, preventive medicine, mental health, and dental care in an already imperfect healthcare system in the US. This study utilized the 2020 self-reported data from quarters 3 and 4 of the National Health Interview Survey, a cross-sectional interview survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to determine the possible association of self-reported COVID diagnosis, test positivity, and severity with delays and cancellations in access to care and cancer care, and decrease in utilization of vaccination, mental health, home health, wellness, and dental services, when compared to individuals who report living through the initial pandemic without testing positive or being diagnosed with COVID-19. Data was analyzed by Stata analytical software level 15 by means of logistic regression. Based on the results, self-reported COVID-19 diagnosis and/or test positivity was associated with all measures of impaired access to care, delayed medical care due to COVID, delayed medical care due to cost, not receiving medical care due to COVID and not receiving medical care due to cost. Self-reported severe COVID was associated with delayed medical care due to cost, not receiving medical care due to COVID and not receiving medical care due to cost. Contrary to our initial hypotheses pertaining to utilization of healthcare services, history of COVID infection was associated with higher odds of utilization in areas of mental healthcare, and receipt of wellness checks. Positive association was also found for utilization of dental services when the level of significance was set at p-value

Keywords

Access to care; COVID-19; Healthcare management; Healthcare utilization; NHIS; Public health policy

Disciplines

Health and Medical Administration | Public Health | Public Policy

File Format

pdf

File Size

21600 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS