Cancer screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of public interest trends.
Curr Probl Cancer
; 46(1): 100766, 2022 02.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1275254
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted breast, colon, prostate, and lung cancer screenings in the U.S. by decreasing screening numbers.âWe believe multiple types of cancer screenings may have been impacted during the pandemic as a result of cancellations of elective procedures and patient fear of seeking cancer screenings during a pandemic and that Google Trends may be a marker to estimate screening usage.METHODS:
Google Trends (trends.google.com) was utilized to assess public interest in multiple cancer types. We then constructed a forecasting model to determine the expected search interest had the pandemic not occurred. We then compared our models to actual screening usage during the pandemic.RESULTS:
Public interest in cancer screenings decreased precipitously at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that the Google Trends estimated the decrease in mammogram usage 25.8% below the actual value. Similarly, Google Trends estimated the decrease in colon cancer screening usage 9.7% below the true value.DISCUSSION:
We found the decrease in public interest in breast and colon cancer screenings slightly underestimated the actual screening usage numbers, suggesting Google Trends may be utilized as an indicator for human behavior regarding cancer screening, particularly with colon and breast cancer screenings. If the negative trend in cancer screening continues and missed screenings are not appropriately corrected for, socioeconomic and racial disparities in cancer diagnoses, morbidity, and mortality will widen.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
/
Early Detection of Cancer
/
COVID-19
/
Neoplasms
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Curr Probl Cancer
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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