Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39663697›Full record

ArticleScandinavian journal of public health2025

Unmet need for and barriers to receiving health care and social welfare services in Finland.

Katja M Ilmarinen, Anna-Mari Aalto, Anu L Muuri

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scandinavian journal of public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Katja M IlmarinenDepartment of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-6336-9513
Anna-Mari AaltoDepartment of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-1287-1431
Anu L MuuriDepartment of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimNeed-based access to health care and social welfare services is an element of health promotion, and it endorses equity and the principles of universalism in society. To explore access to services, this study analyses unmet need for services, barriers that impede access and whether individual characteristics are associated with service access. The study period coincided with the COVID-19-pandemic and health and social services reform in Finland.

methodThe prevalence of subjective unmet need was used as an indicator of service access. Inconvenient opening hours, a difficult journey to the service unit and high user fees were barriers to receiving services. A nationally representative FinSote survey 2018 and 2020 was used in the analyses. Data were examined with multivariate logistic regression models using SPSS.

resultsA high prevalence of unmet need for health care and especially for social welfare services was observed. The prevalence of unmet need increased from 2018 to 2020, but in health care only, and access to social welfare services deteriorated. In particular, women, younger people, those who need income support and those with poor health or quality of life forgo care.

conclusions

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityHealth Services Needs and DemandSocial WelfareSocial WorkAdolescentAdultAgedCOVID-19FemaleFinlandHumansMaleMiddle AgedYoung Adultaccess to servicesCOVID-19-pandemicforgone carehealth carehealth equityhealth promotionsocial servicessocio-demographic factorsuniversalism

Identifiers

PMID39663697
PMCPMC11951374

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.