The impact of COVID-19 on colorectal screening in Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Puerto Rico has endured three major environmental and public health crises (Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, the unprecedented seismic activity of January 2020) and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic during the past 5 years. All these events might lead to an unquestionable deleterious impact in the prevention of cancer and across the cancer continuum, exacerbating cancer health disparities in the future. Cancer screening plays a critical role in early cancer detection. COVID-19 has significantly hampered screening programs in many countries' cancer screening infrastructure and services, affecting adherence. Cancer is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Puerto Rico. Limited information is available about the impact the current pandemic on colorectal cancer screening. In this study, we aim to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on colorectal cancer screening in 2020 and assess if this impact varied by health regions. METHOD(S) This study analyzed administrative data claims from the Public Health System of Puerto Rico which is managed by the Government of Puerto Rico through the Health Insurance Administration. The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes included for this study were (81528, 82270, G0104, G0105, G0121, G0328, G0464). To assess changes in the numbers of colorectal cancer screening claims between the incurred year (2016 and 2020), Poisson regression was used. Initially, we fitted this model with only the incurred year as the predictor and offsetting the model with the annual average of total insured (univariate model). Based on this model, we estimate the magnitude of association between the number of claims and incurred year using the Prevalence Ratio (PR) of claims. Lastly, Poisson univariate regression model were used for each of the seven health regions (Ponce, Bayamon, Caguas, Mayaguez, Metro, Arecibo and Fajardo) to assess potential geographic disparities. RESULT(S) The numbers of colorectal cancer screening claims significantly decreased by 40% (PRcrude 0.60, 95%CI 0.59, 0.62) in 2020 when compared to 2016. However, when adjusting for claim incurred month, sex, health region and offsetting the model with the annual average of total insured, the numbers of colorectal cancer screening claims significantly decreased by 34%, (PRadj 0.66, 95%CI 0.64, 0.67). The numbers of colorectal cancer screening claims significantly decreased in all health regions in 2020 when compared to 2016 (p<0.05). However, the most impacted region was the Eastern region, Fajardo, with a 64% (PRFajardocrude 0.36, 95%CI 0.30, 0.42) significant decrease in numbers of colorectal cancer screening claims. CONCLUSION(S) COVID-19 had a profound negative effect on colorectal screening in Puerto Rico. Moreover, despite the beneficiaries of this governmental health plan sharing similar sociodemographic and socioeconomic background, regional differences were observed.