Healthcare Utilisation and Seeking Behaviors Among Adults During COVID-19: A United Arab Emirates Perspective

Author First name, Last name, Institution

• Amal Elamin, University of Greenwich
• Mona El Kouatly Kambris, Zayed University
• Sharifa AlBlooshi, Zayed UniversityFollow
• Rahma Ajja, Wake Forest University Health Sciences; Wake Forest University

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Coronaviruses

Publication Date

11-24-2025

Abstract

Background: The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, marked by the emergence of new variants and challenges of long COVID, underscores the need to understand the population’s healthcare utilization patterns and seeking behaviours observed during pandemics. Aim: This study examined the insights obtained from the pandemic, particularly in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it lauded for its effective pandemic response. Methods: A snowball sampling method was used to recruit participants from the UAE in this crosssectional study. A 59-item online questionnaire addressing demographic characteristics, healthcare utilization patterns, and seeking behaviors during the pandemic was employed. Results: A total of 3371 participants completed the online questionnaire, reporting a decrease in healthcare utilization during the lockdown (12.95%) compared to post-lockdown (53.1%). Significantly higher healthcare service utilization was reported among females (p <0.000), those aged >41 years (p <0.05), Emirati nationals (p <0.05), and those with health insurance (p <0.000). Adapting to changing health-seeking behaviors, addressing gender disparities, and mitigating age-related barriers are valuable challenges that were overcome. Conclusion: This study highlights decreased healthcare seeking behaviours during the pandemic, accompanied by concerns about accessing healthcare. Notably, age, nationality, health insurance, perceived health status, and chronic conditions significantly influenced healthcare utilisation. These findings underline the necessity for resilient and adaptive healthcare systems ahead of future pandemics.

DOI Link

10.2174/0126667975398978251108034653

ISSN

2666-7967

Publisher

Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.

Volume

07

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Keywords

COVID-19 and healthcare impacts, COVID-19 and Mental Health, COVID-19 epidemiological studies

Recommended Citation

Elamin, Amal; El Kouatly Kambris, Mona; AlBlooshi, Sharifa; and Ajja, Rahma, "Healthcare Utilisation and Seeking Behaviors Among Adults During COVID-19: A United Arab Emirates Perspective" (2025). All Works. 8360.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/8360

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

no