TY - JOUR
T1 - Continuity of Care Among Postmenopausal Women With Cardiometabolic Diseases in the United States Early During the COVID-19 Pandemic
T2 - Findings From the Women's Health Initiative
AU - Wong, Eugenia
AU - Franceschini, Nora
AU - Tinker, Lesley F.
AU - Wise Thomas, Sherrie
AU - Manson, Jo Ann E.
AU - Saquib, Nazmus
AU - Liu, Simin
AU - Vitolins, Mara
AU - Mouton, Charles P.
AU - Pettinger, Mary
AU - Gillette, Chris
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/12/1
Y1 - 2022/12/1
N2 - Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, public health measures, including stay-at-home orders, were widely instituted in the United States by March 2020. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of these measures on continuity of care among older adults living with chronic diseases. Methods: Beginning in June 2020, participants of the national Women's Health Initiative (WHI) (N = 64 061) were surveyed on the impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their health and well-being since March 2020, including access to care appointments, medications, and caregivers. Responses received by November 2020 (response rate = 77.6%) were tabulated and stratified by prevalent chronic diseases, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Results: Among 49 695 respondents (mean age = 83.6 years), 70.2% had a history of hypertension, 21.8% had diabetes, and 18.9% had CVD. Half of the respondents reported being very concerned about the pandemic, and 24.5% decided against seeking medical care to avoid COVID-19 exposure. A quarter reported difficulties with getting routine care, and 45.5% had in-person appointments converted to telemedicine formats; many reported canceled (27.8%) or rescheduled (37.7%) appointments. Among those taking prescribed medication (88.0%), 9.7% reported changing their method of obtaining medications. Those living with and without chronic diseases generally reported similar changes in care and medication access. Conclusions: Early in the pandemic, many older women avoided medical care or adapted to new ways of receiving care and medications. Therefore, optimizing alternative services, like telemedicine, should be prioritized to ensure that older women continue to receive quality care during public health emergencies.
AB - Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, public health measures, including stay-at-home orders, were widely instituted in the United States by March 2020. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of these measures on continuity of care among older adults living with chronic diseases. Methods: Beginning in June 2020, participants of the national Women's Health Initiative (WHI) (N = 64 061) were surveyed on the impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their health and well-being since March 2020, including access to care appointments, medications, and caregivers. Responses received by November 2020 (response rate = 77.6%) were tabulated and stratified by prevalent chronic diseases, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Results: Among 49 695 respondents (mean age = 83.6 years), 70.2% had a history of hypertension, 21.8% had diabetes, and 18.9% had CVD. Half of the respondents reported being very concerned about the pandemic, and 24.5% decided against seeking medical care to avoid COVID-19 exposure. A quarter reported difficulties with getting routine care, and 45.5% had in-person appointments converted to telemedicine formats; many reported canceled (27.8%) or rescheduled (37.7%) appointments. Among those taking prescribed medication (88.0%), 9.7% reported changing their method of obtaining medications. Those living with and without chronic diseases generally reported similar changes in care and medication access. Conclusions: Early in the pandemic, many older women avoided medical care or adapted to new ways of receiving care and medications. Therefore, optimizing alternative services, like telemedicine, should be prioritized to ensure that older women continue to receive quality care during public health emergencies.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Chronic disease
KW - Continuity of care
KW - Health services
KW - Women's health
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U2 - 10.1093/gerona/glac170
DO - 10.1093/gerona/glac170
M3 - Article
C2 - 36087113
AN - SCOPUS:85143551971
SN - 1079-5006
VL - 77
SP - S13-S21
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
ER -