Original Research
Isolation and Financial Hardship Linked With Lower Odds of Receiving Preventive Health Care in the U.S.
Background: Researchers analyzed data from the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national telephone survey, to better understand how social isolation and physical isolation intersect with material deprivation, including financial strain and inadequate health care access. The study examined six preventive services: COVID-19, flu and pneumococcal vaccination, and breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings.
What They Found:
Among 281,582 adults, 31.9% reported social isolation and 8.2% reported physical isolation, with the two types of isolation often overlapping; Researchers found that 63.9% of physically isolated individuals were socially isolated vs. 29.0% of those who were not physically isolated. Both types of isolation were more common among lower-income adults and declined steadily as income increased. Both forms of isolation were associated with material deprivation. For example, 82.1% of physically isolated adults, compared with 30.9% of those who did not report physical isolation, experienced hardship, including food insecurity, trouble paying housing or utility bills, and potential utility shutoff.
In unadjusted analyses, both forms of isolation were associated with lower odds of receiving most preventive health services. After adjusting for socioeconomic factors, many of these associations became smaller or were no longer statistically significant.
Implications: These findings suggest that financial hardship explains part of the relationship between isolation and preventive care use and highlight the importance of attending social and physical isolation alongside material needs when counseling patients about prevention.
Associations of Social and Physical Isolation With Material Deprivation and Inadequate Use of Preventive Care in the United States
Jacob Riegler, MD, MBA, MSBE, et al
Cambridge Health Alliance, Department of Internal Medicine, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
