Perceptions of Healthcare Access Among Lithuanians Aged 65 and Over During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kalibatas, Vytenis; Kaseliene, Snieguole; Kalediene, Ramune; MEŠČERIAKOVA, OLGA; Sauliune, Skirmante

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1504049

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Public Health Policy

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1504049

This article is part of the Research Topic Public Health Challenges in Post-Soviet Countries During and Beyond COVID-19, Volume II View all 5 articles

Perceptions of Healthcare Access Among Lithuanians Aged 65 and Over During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Provisionally accepted

Ramune Kalediene

Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Aim: This study investigates the perceived accessibility of healthcare services among older adults in Lithuania during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is significant as it sheds light on geographical, organizational, and financial healthcare access issues encountered by the elderly population.Methods: Conducted in January 2024, the study involved an anonymous questionnaire survey of 1,503 Lithuanian residents aged 65 and older.The most frequently utilized healthcare services were consultations with a general practitioner (75.4%) 22.0% of respondents reported not receiving any healthcare services. 53.5% respondents were satisfied with travel time to specialists. Common challenges included difficulties in getting appointments with specialists (53.9%) and dentists (36.2%). Financial barriers led to unmet healthcare needs: 12.6% of the respondents did not receive needed services, 12.8% did not undergo recommended tests, and 14.2% did not purchase prescribed medications. Healthcare services were less accessible to elders with lower education, lower incomes, and those who self-rated health poorly (p<0.05).Most respondents received the healthcare they needed during the pandemic and rated geographical access positively. However, some problems in organizational and financial access were disclosed. The observed social gradient indicates that socioeconomic factors significantly influence healthcare access, potentially increasing vulnerability among certain groups.

Keywords: COVID-19, older adults, Healthcare services accessibility, Perception, assessment of healthcare needs, Lithuania COVID-19, Lithuania

Received: 30 Sep 2024; Accepted: 12 Feb 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Kalibatas, Kaseliene, Kalediene, MEŠČERIAKOVA and Sauliune. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Vytenis Kalibatas, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

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