Your browser doesn't support javascript.
Flemish population-based cancer screening programs: impact of COVID-19 related shutdown on short-term key performance indicators.
Jidkova, Svetlana; Hoeck, Sarah; Kellen, Eliane; le Cessie, Saskia; Goossens, Mathijs C.
  • Jidkova S; Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. svetlana.jidkova@ugent.be.
  • Hoeck S; Centre for Cancer Detection, Ruddershove, Bruges, Belgium. svetlana.jidkova@ugent.be.
  • Kellen E; Centre for Cancer Detection, Ruddershove, Bruges, Belgium.
  • le Cessie S; Family Medicine and Population Health (FAMPOP), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • Goossens MC; Centre for Cancer Detection, Ruddershove, Bruges, Belgium.
BMC Cancer ; 22(1): 183, 2022 Feb 18.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1962775
ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

Many breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer screening programs were disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to estimate the short-term impact of the temporary shutdown (from March until May- June) of the cancer screening programs invitations in Flanders (Belgium) by looking at invitation coverage, percentage of people screened after invitation and the screening interval.

METHODS:

Yearly invitation coverage was calculated as the number of people who received an invitation, as a proportion of the people who should have received an invitation that year. Weekly response to the invitation was calculated as the number of people who were screened within 40 days of their date of invitation, as a percentage of the people who received an invitation that week (as a proxy for willingness to screen). Weekly screening interval was calculated as the mean number of months between the current screening and the previous screening of all the people who screened that week. The two last indicators were calculated for each week in 2019 and 2020, after which the difference between that week's value in 2020 and 2019 with 95% confidence intervals. Results of these two indicators were also analysed after stratification for gender, age and participation history.

RESULTS:

Invitation coverage was not impacted in the colorectal and cervical cancer screening program. In the breast cancer screening program invitation coverage went down from 97.5% (2019) to 88.7% (2020), and the backlog of invitations was largely resolved in the first six months of 2021. The willingness to screen was minimally influenced by COVID-19. The breast cancer screening program had a temporary increase in screening interval in the first months following the restart after COVID-19 related shutdown, when it was on average 2.1 months longer than in 2019.

CONCLUSIONS:

Willingness to screen was minimally influenced by COVID-19, but there may be an influence on screening coverage because of lower invitation coverage, mainly for the for breast Cancer Screening Program. The increases in screening intervals for the three Cancer Screening Program seem reasonable and would probably not significantly increase the risk of delayed screening cancer diagnoses. When restarting a Cancer Screening Program after a COVID-19 related shutdown, monitoring is crucial.
Subject(s)
Keywords

Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Early Detection of Cancer / COVID-19 Type of study: Diagnostic study / Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study Topics: Long Covid Limits: Adult / Aged / Female / Humans / Male / Middle aged Country/Region as subject: Europa Language: English Journal: BMC Cancer Journal subject: Neoplasms Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S12885-022-09292-y

Similar

MEDLINE

...
LILACS

LIS


Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Early Detection of Cancer / COVID-19 Type of study: Diagnostic study / Experimental Studies / Observational study / Prognostic study Topics: Long Covid Limits: Adult / Aged / Female / Humans / Male / Middle aged Country/Region as subject: Europa Language: English Journal: BMC Cancer Journal subject: Neoplasms Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: S12885-022-09292-y