Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Attendance to Well-Child Visit Recommendations during COVID-19

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38614214/ The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in racial and ethnic disparities among children in attendance to recommended well-child visits, according to an AHRQ study. The research, published in Academic Pediatrics, is discussed in a new podcast featuring the study’s lead author, AHRQ Senior Economist Salam Abdus, Ph.D. Data from AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey showed that average attendance to well-child visits decreased from 66.6 percent during the pre-pandemic period (2018–2019) to 58.6 percent in 2020. During those time periods, the unadjusted disparities in attendance widened from 9.6 percentage points to 24.8 percentage points between White non-Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic children, and from 14.8 percentage points to 26.3 percentage points between White non-Hispanic and Hispanic children. The authors concluded that the widening attendance disparities highlight the need to build a more equitable healthcare system for all children. https://www.academicpedsjnl.net/content/podcasts The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) is a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers, and employers across the United States. MEPS is the most complete source of data on the cost and use of health care and health insurance coverage. https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/