Emergency and non-emergency routes to cancer diagnoses in 2020 and 2021: A Population-based study of 154,863 patients
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.The COVID-19 pandemic reduced non-emergency cancer diagnoses in Scotland, increasing emergency presentations for some cancers. This shift suggests lost opportunities for early cancer detection and favorable outcomes.
Area Of Science
- Oncology
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted routine cancer diagnosis pathways.
- This disruption particularly affected screening and non-acute symptomatic cancer cases.
- Differential impacts on emergency cancer presentations, linked to poorer outcomes, were not well-described.
Purpose Of The Study
- To analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer diagnosis routes in Scotland.
- To compare changes in non-emergency versus emergency cancer diagnoses during the pandemic.
- To assess the persistence of these changes into 2021.
Main Methods
- A cross-sectional descriptive study utilized International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership methods.
- Data spanned from 2015 to 2021, linking acute hospital records and national cancer registry data.
- Emergency diagnosis was defined as presentation within 30 days prior to cancer incidence date.
Main Results
- Non-emergency cancer diagnoses decreased significantly in 2020 for all studied cancers, with partial recovery in 2021.
- Colorectal and cervical cancers saw the largest non-emergency diagnosis reductions (approx. one-third) in 2020.
- Emergency diagnoses increased for breast, cervical, colorectal, and upper GI cancers in 2020, and for breast and cervical cancers in 2021.
Conclusions
- The pandemic led to substantial reductions in elective cancer diagnoses in Scotland in 2020.
- Emergency cancer diagnoses decreased only for prostate cancer during this period.
- These diagnostic shifts suggest missed opportunities for favorable cancer diagnosis, with some effects continuing into 2021.
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