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IMAGE: A significant percentage of adults over 50 have visited an emergency department in the last two years. view more
Credit: University of Michigan
Even before the pandemic, older Americans had concerns about seeking emergency care because of the costs they might face, the amount of time they might spend in the waiting room and the worry that they might end up hospitalized.
But the risk of catching the novel coronavirus in the emergency department and developing COVID-19 added to those worries, according to a national poll of people ages 50 to 80 taken in June.
Eighty-six percent of those polled cited risk of COVID-19 as something they d take into account when deciding whether to seek emergency care, compared with 91% who mentioned wait times, 79% who said they worried about what they d have to pay and 77% who were concerned about hospitalization.