More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults without access to a vehicle or public transportation missed or skipped a medical appointment in the previous year, according to a new study that sheds light on a key social driver of health equity…

What they found: 21% of adults without access to a vehicle or public transit went without needed medical care last year.

About 5% of nonelderly adults didn’t get needed care in the past year because of difficulty finding transportation, an experience more common among individuals from low-income families, people with disabilities and those on public health programs.

Though 91% of adults said they had access to a vehicle, the figure was substantially lower Black adults (81%), those with low family incomes (78%) or a disability (83%) and for individuals with public health insurance (79%) or no coverage (83%).

The study draws on data from the June 2022 round of the Urban Institute’s Health Reform Monitoring Survey of adults ages 18 to 64.