Background: Patients' avoidance of medical care and visiting emergency departments (EDs) during the viral coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been reported in many countries; however, similar studies are almost absent in Saudi Arabia. We aimed to (1) study the tendency to avoid or delay medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) identify factors that affect patients' decision to visit an ED when required, and (3) examine the medical consequences and possible complications in terms of a patient's health due to avoiding medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted using a descriptive and analytical survey to explore the prevalence of patient avoidance of medical care. The survey was distributed through social media websites to the population of Saudi Arabia.
Results: Of the 1,275 participants in this study, 51% were male and the majority (77.8%) were aged between 21 and 49 years. Forty-four percent (n = 561) of the participants had delayed or avoided medical care due to concerns about contracting COVID-19. A variety of significant factors were associated with delaying or avoiding medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic, including age, marital status, paying when seeking care, presence of comorbidities, and the level of anxiousness about visiting an ED during the pandemic. The multinomial logistic regression model highlighted that being very anxious significantly predicted avoidance of medical care.
Conclusions: Avoiding medical care during the pandemic is not uncommon. Many factors contribute to overall patients' avoidance and the consequences can be fatal. Patient education and efforts to decrease patients' anxiousness are the keys to decreasing avoidance and complications due to the late presentation.
Key words: Medical Care Avoidance, Delayed Emergency Department Visits, Coronavirus Disease-2019, Pandemic, Public Health.
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