In June the CDC asked almost 10,000 respondents in the US the question, “Have you delayed or avoided medical care due to concerns related to COVID-19?” The survey question found that 41 percent answered yes to this statement. Twelve percent avoided urgent or emergency care and another 32 percent stated they had avoided routine care.
Some of the people who stated they were avoiding urgent or emergency care and routine care were unpaid caregivers of adults. Almost 30 percent had avoided emergency care and 64 percent routine medical care. People with underlying medical conditions were also more at risk of not getting the care that they needed, with almost 23 percent and an estimated 55 percent avoiding emergent care and routine care respectively. People with disabilities also avoided the hospital (23%) and their doctors’ office (60%). [1]
It’s understandable. Our medical system was ill-prepared for this pandemic. In fact, research published in JAMA in August revealed that mortality numbers from the pandemic, when only reporting COVID-19 deaths, does not reveal the actual negative impact in the number of deaths caused by delays in care, worsening of chronic conditions, stress related deaths to name a few.
The 5 states with the most COVID-19 deaths experienced large proportional increases in deaths due to nonrespiratory underlying causes, including diabetes (96%), heart diseases (89%), Alzheimer disease (64%), and cerebrovascular diseases (35%) …. New York City experienced the largest increases in nonrespiratory deaths, notably those due to heart disease (398%) and diabetes (356%).[2]
If you or your loved one are delaying going to the hospital or physician because of the pandemic, please remind them that the CDC states: “Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, persons experiencing a medical emergency should seek and be provided care without delay.”[1]
REFERENCES:
- https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6936a4.htm
- https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768086
Feature image: Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
Thank you very much for talking about this. Now everyone is very afraid to catch COVID, because this is a completely new type of virus for humans. Despite this, we should not ignore the symptoms of other diseases too. Especially when you know you have a chronic medical condition. This way you can make things even worse. After all, it is always better to get the help you need than to deal with the consequences, including death. Everything must be done wisely. Quarantine and certain restrictions are already improving the COVID situation, so it is important for you not to make the situation worse. It doesn’t really matter if you die from COVID or a chronic illness.