LAUSR

Introduction: Barriers to healthcare - financial and nonfinancial - may result in unmet health needs and adverse outcomes. Despite this, the nonfinancial barriers to care among adults with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is poorly defined in the US. We aimed to explore the scope and determinants of nonfinancial barriers to care among individuals with ASCVD. Methods: We analyzed data from the 2013-17 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). We included adults with self-reported ASCVD (heart attack, angina, and/or stroke). Nine key variables in the NHIS that represent nonfinancial barriers to healthcare were assessed as absent/present, and participants were classified as having 0-1, 2, or ≥3 barriers. Multinomial logistic regression (using 0-1 nonfinancial barriers as reference) was used to evaluate the relationship between various sociodemographic factors, and an increasing number of nonfinancial barriers. Results: Of all the 15,758 adults with ASCVD (8.1% annually in the US; representing 19.6 million), 23.4% reported having at least one nonfinancial barrier to care while 4.9% reported 3 nonfinancial barriers. In a multivariable multinomial logistic regression, after stratifying by age, individuals from low-income families had an almost 2-fold relative prevalence of 3 nonfinancial barriers ( Figure) . In the elderly, however, lack of insurance was the strongest predictor (relative prevalence ratio of 6.51 [95% confidence interval; 2.25, 18.87]) of having ≥3 barriers. Conclusion: Among adults with ASCVD, the relative prevalence of ≥3 nonfinancial barriers was low (4.9%) with low-income being the only modifiable predictor of reporting ≥3 nonfinancial barriers and lack of insurance being the strongest predictor in the elderly. Addressing financial barriers to healthcare may help alleviate these nonfinancial barriers.