TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of unmet health care need in older adults in 83 countries
T2 - measuring progressing towards universal health coverage in the context of global population ageing
AU - Kowal, Paul
AU - Corso, Barbara
AU - Anindya, Kanya
AU - Andrade, Flavia C.D.
AU - Giang, Thanh Long
AU - Guitierrez, Maria Teresa Calzada
AU - Pothisiri, Wiraporn
AU - Quashie, Nekehia T.
AU - Reina, Herney Alonso Rengifo
AU - Rosenberg, Megumi
AU - Towers, Andy
AU - Vicerra, Paolo Miguel Manalang
AU - Minicuci, Nadia
AU - Ng, Nawi
AU - Byles, Julie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Current measures for monitoring progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) do not adequately account for populations that do not have the same level of access to quality care services and/or financial protection to cover health expenses for when care is accessed. This gap in accounting for unmet health care needs may contribute to underutilization of needed services or widening inequalities. Asking people whether or not their needs for health care have been met, as part of a household survey, is a pragmatic way of capturing this information. This analysis examined responses to self-reported questions about unmet need asked as part of 17 health, social and economic surveys conducted between 2001 and 2019, representing 83 low-, middle- and high-income countries. Noting the large variation in questions and response categories, the results point to low levels (less than 2%) of unmet need reported in adults aged 60+ years in countries like Andorra, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Thailand and Viet Nam to rates of over 50% in Georgia, Haiti, Morocco, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. While unique, these estimates are likely underestimates, and do not begin to address issues of poor quality of care as a barrier or contributing to unmet need in those who were able to access care. Monitoring progress towards UHC will need to incorporate estimates of unmet need if we are to reach universality and reduce health inequalities in older populations.
AB - Current measures for monitoring progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) do not adequately account for populations that do not have the same level of access to quality care services and/or financial protection to cover health expenses for when care is accessed. This gap in accounting for unmet health care needs may contribute to underutilization of needed services or widening inequalities. Asking people whether or not their needs for health care have been met, as part of a household survey, is a pragmatic way of capturing this information. This analysis examined responses to self-reported questions about unmet need asked as part of 17 health, social and economic surveys conducted between 2001 and 2019, representing 83 low-, middle- and high-income countries. Noting the large variation in questions and response categories, the results point to low levels (less than 2%) of unmet need reported in adults aged 60+ years in countries like Andorra, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Thailand and Viet Nam to rates of over 50% in Georgia, Haiti, Morocco, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. While unique, these estimates are likely underestimates, and do not begin to address issues of poor quality of care as a barrier or contributing to unmet need in those who were able to access care. Monitoring progress towards UHC will need to incorporate estimates of unmet need if we are to reach universality and reduce health inequalities in older populations.
KW - Adult
KW - Africa
KW - Americas
KW - Asia
KW - Europe
KW - Health service needs and demand
KW - Health services research
KW - Older adult
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U2 - 10.1186/s12963-023-00308-8
DO - 10.1186/s12963-023-00308-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 37715182
AN - SCOPUS:85171384677
SN - 1478-7954
VL - 21
JO - Population Health Metrics
JF - Population Health Metrics
IS - 1
M1 - 15
ER -