Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Screening and Diagnoses in the COVID Era: A Study of the VA Health System

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused disruptions in cancer screening and diagnosis, including colorectal cancer. Given disparities in cancer and COVID-19 faced by historically disadvantaged minorities, we examined changes in disparities in colorectal cancer screening and diagnosis in the COVID era.

In a cohort study using the Veterans' Affairs Health Care System (VAHCS) from 2018 through 2021, we quantified colonoscopies, fecal occult blood tests (FOBT), and new diagnoses of colorectal cancer (CRC) by month from 1 March 2018 to 31 December 2021. We compared the pre-COVID (before 1 March 2020) to the COVID (1 March 2020 and after) era. We graphed temporal trends by age, sex, race, ethnicity, rural-urban, and socioeconomic status (SES). Logistic regression was used to evaluate temporal trends after adjusting for confounders.

During the study period, there were about 900,000 colonoscopies, 1.4 million FOBTs, and > 30,000 new diagnoses of CRC. Colonoscopies and new CRC decreased dramatically during the early COVID era to < 10% and < 60% of pre-COVID rates, respectively. Although we identified a modest increase in disparities of colonoscopy use among Black and Latino patients in the early COVID era, these increased disparities did not persist in adjusted analysis. We did not identify changes in disparities in FOBT use or new CRC diagnoses.

We did not identify increased disparities in CRC screening or diagnoses by age, sex, race, ethnicity, geographic region, or SES in the VAHCS. These results indicate a potential strength of the VAHCS and require further study in additional cancers and healthcare systems.