Record 38 pct of U.S. adults delay medical treatment due to costs in 2022: Gallup

An ambulance is seen outside Ann &Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago in Chicago, the United States, on Dec. 12, 2022. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua)

"This change came amid the highest inflation rate in the United States in more than 40 years, which made 2022 a challenging year for many Americans," Gallup said.

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Inflation led a record high 38 percent of Americans to delay medical treatment due to costs in 2022, a new Gallup poll showed.

The percentage who reported they or a family member postponed medical treatment was up from 26 percent at the end of 2021. "It is the highest in the 22 years the polling company has surveyed the issue," said a Washington Times report of the annual poll, which was released on Tuesday.

"This change came amid the highest inflation rate in the United States in more than 40 years, which made 2022 a challenging year for many Americans," Gallup said.

An average of 29 percent of adults reported putting off medical treatment due to costs between 2001 and 2021, according to Gallup. The previous high in the trend, 33 percent, occurred in 2014 and again in 2019.

Americans were more than twice as likely to report delaying treatment in their family for a serious rather than a "non-serious" condition in 2022, according to Gallup.