Forgoing care because of costs is a frequent situation in many countries, with estimated prevalences going from 4% to 30% [1–6]. It can be defined as a decision of not seeking care when needed because of financial reasons and the term is used interchangeably with unmet needs as both terms provide similar information [7]. Whereas most studies on the prevalence of forgoing care because of costs target the general populations, little is known of the prevalence of forgoing care for people with specific chronic conditions. The few studies exploring this issue reported a prevalence close to general population figures [5,8–9]. As people with chronic conditions have a high demand of health care, such prevalence may either be lower, since they are being followed by a health practitioner and are already navigating the system, or on the contrary, may be similar or higher, since they might decide to prioritize some health issues at the expense of other conditions.
Our main objective was to assess the prevalence of forgoing care because of costs in Swiss patients with diabetes; a secondary objective was to explore whether forgoing care because of costs was related to a risk of worsening the quality of their care after three years of follow-up.