The evolution of household forgone essential care and its determinants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria: A longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Apart from the morbidity and mortality, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the predisposition of households in Nigeria to forgone care, thereby increasing their vulnerability to adverse health consequences. Since there is no previous study in Nigeria on the evolution of pandemic-related forgone care and its drivers, our study assess the evolution of the problem using descriptive and nationally representative panel data analyses. We found about a 30% prevalence of forgone care during the lockdown, which declined progressively afterwards, dropping by 69.50 percentage points between April 2020 and April 2022. This decline produced a surge in households needing care from about 35.00% in the early pandemic to greater than 50%, beginning in early 2021. The forgone care was primarily due to financial hindrances, movement restrictions, and supply-side disruptions. Household socioeconomic factors such as income loss had 2.74 [95%CI: 1.45–5.17] times higher odds of forgone care, job loss, food insecurity, and poverty were 87% (OR: 1.87 [95%CI: 1.25–2.79]), 60% (OR: 1.60 [95%CI: 1.12–2.31]) and 76% (OR: 1.76 [95%CI: 1.12–2.75]) more likely to predispose households to forgone care, respectively. Also, geographical location, such as the South-South zone, induced 1.98 [95%CI: 1.09–3.58] times higher odds of forgone care than North-Central. A married female household head increased the odds by 6.07 [95%CI: 1.72–21.47] times compared with an unmarried female head. However, having a married household head, social assistance, and North-East or North-West zone compared with North-Central increased the chance of accessing care by 69% (OR 0.31 [95%CI: 0.16–0.59]), 59%,(OR 0.41 [95%CI: 0.21–0.77]), 72% (OR 0.28 [95%CI: 0.15–0.53]) and 64% (OR 0.36 [95%CI: 0.20–0.65]), respectively. Non-communicable diseases, disability, old age, large household size and rural-urban location did not affect the forgone care. Our study highlights the need to strengthen Nigeria’s health system, create policies to promote healthcare accessibility and prepare the country for future pandemic challenges.