Abstract P368: Differences in Perceived General Health and Health Care Utilization by Race and Ethnicity During the COVID Pandemic: The C4R-MESA Study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped individuals' lives with potential impacts on perceptions of their general health and healthcare utilization. Objective: Examine patterns of self-reported general health perceptions and routine healthcare utilization during the pandemic, and assess differences by race and ethnicity, in a community-based sample of US adults. Methods: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) assessed the impact of the pandemic on participants via questionnaires designed by the Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID-19 Research (C4R) Study. For the question, “How does your general health compare to before the pandemic?”, responses of “worse” were compared to “about the same” or “better.” For the question, “Since March 2020, did you have to delay or miss out on any healthcare services?”; “yes” responses were compared to “no.” Associations with race and ethnicity were tested using logistic regression models, adjusting for covariates. Results: Of 1929 MESA participants (age 75±8 years; 55% female; 40% White; 23% Hispanic; 22% Black; 15% Chinese), worse general health during the pandemic was reported by 15% of participants and 32% reported missed or delayed healthcare services. Race and ethnicity were not associated with worse general health ( Table ). Black (vs White) participants were less likely to report having missed or delayed healthcare (aOR:0.56;95%CI:0.37-0.84). There were no significant differences in missed or delayed healthcare for Chinese and Hispanic participants compared to White participants. Conclusion: These findings suggest that 1 in 7 adults experienced worsening general health and 1 in 3 missed or delayed healthcare during the pandemic. However, race and ethnicity were not associated with perceived general health and associations with missed/delayed healthcare were limited. Longer-term effects of the pandemic on general health and utilization, and related health disparities, are being evaluated in this prospective cohort.