Missed and Delayed Preventive Health Care Visits Among US Children Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a substantial drop in US children’s preventive care, which had not fully rebounded by the end of 2020. We sought to estimate the overall prevalence of missed, skipped, or delayed preventive checkups among households with children in the last 12 months because of the pandemic. Methods: We used data from the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, Phase 3.1 (collected April–May 2021). The analytic sample included 48 824 households with ≥1 child or adolescent aged <18 years. We estimated both national and state-level prevalences, examined associations with sociodemographic and household characteristics, and described reasons for missed or delayed preventive visits. Results: Overall, 26.4% (95% CI, 25.5%-27.2%) of households reported that ≥1 child or adolescent had missed or delayed a preventive visit because of COVID-19; percentages varied by state, from 17.9% in Wyoming to 37.0% in Vermont. The prevalence of missed or delayed preventive visits was significantly higher among respondents who reported material hardships (ie, not caught up on rent/mortgage, difficulty paying usual household expenses, children not eating enough because of lack of affordability) than among respondents who did not report material hardships. The most common reasons for missing or delaying preventive visits were concern about visiting a health care provider, limited appointment availability, and the provider’s location being closed. Conclusions: Programs and policies could reduce gaps in children’s preventive care caused by the pandemic, with a particular focus on addressing social determinants of health.