Health and healthcare for people with disabilities in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anne Kavanagh, Chris Hatton, Roger J Stancliffe and 6 others
PMID 34330683WHAT IT FOUND
People with disabilities reported similar rates of coronavirus symptoms but were three times more likely to be hospitalized if symptomatic.
They also experienced significantly higher psychological distress and loneliness, and faced greater barriers accessing over-the-counter medications compared to those without disabilities.
Key findings
01Respondents with disability were more likely to be hospitalized if they had experienced possible symptoms of COVID-19.
02People with disability reported higher levels of current psychological distress and loneliness compared to people without disability.
03Difficulties accessing over the counter medications were more frequently reported by respondents with disability than those without.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
Only half of the original Wave 9 participants responded to the COVID-19 surveys, which may introduce selection bias. The survey excluded people living in congregate settings such as care homes, who were heavily impacted by the pandemic. The study likely under-represents people with learning disabilities. Data on mental health (GHQ-12) had 10.5% missing values, which could bias results.
Declared interests
The research was supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council grant. The authors declared no other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that people with disabilities had a higher rate of coronavirus infection. The study found no statistical evidence of an association between disability and reporting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or being tested for the virus.