ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2023
Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to healthcare among people with disabilities: evidence from six low- and middle-income countries.
Article in International journal for equity in health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of Community-based Interventions to Promote Physical Activity or Reduce Sedentary Behavior among Adults in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Current obesity reports · 2026Pooled it
- Access to and self-reported health impacts of COVID-19 prevention measures on people with disabilities in Vietnam: Results from a cross-sectional study in three mega-cities.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Access to primary health care among persons with disabilities in three selected districts of Zambia: determinants and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Disruption and recovery: a qualitative study on health services for vulnerable populations during the pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- HIV Status and COVID-19 Treatment Disparities in the US National Clinical Cohort Collaborative.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on access to family planning and HIV services among women in Lilongwe, Malawi.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- How inclusive were strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for people with disabilities? Evidence from qualitative research in eight low- and middle-income countries.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on unmet needs for healthcare in Peru: an interrupted time series analysis.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Impact of a pandemic shock on unmet medical needs of middle-aged and older adults in 10 countries.BMJ health & care informatics · 2024Article
- Three-Year Analysis of the Rectal Cancer Care Trajectory after the COVID-19 Pandemic.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities and implications for health services research.Journal of health services research & policy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe pandemic has placed considerable strain on health systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), leading to reductions in the availability of routine health services. Emerging evidence suggests that people with disabilities have encountered marked challenges in accessing healthcare services and supports in the context of the pandemic. Further research is needed to explore specific barriers to accessing healthcare during the pandemic, and any strategies that promoted continued access to health services in LMICs where the vast majority of people with disabilities live.
methodsQualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with persons with disabilities in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Viet Nam, Türkiye (Syrian refugees), Bangladesh, and India as part of a larger project exploring the experiences of people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and their inclusion in government response activities. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
resultsThis research found that people with disabilities in six countries - representing a diverse geographic spread, with different health systems and COVID-19 responses - all experienced additional difficulties accessing healthcare during the pandemic. Key barriers to accessing healthcare during the pandemic included changes in availability of services due to systems restructuring, difficulty affording care due to the economic impacts of the pandemic, fear of contracting coronavirus, and a lack of human support to enable care-seeking.
conclusionThese barriers ultimately led to decreased utilisation of services which, in turn, negatively impacted their health and wellbeing. However, we also found that certain factors, including active and engaged Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) played a role in reducing some of the impact of pandemic-related healthcare access barriers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.