Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Colorectal Cancer Care in the Netherlands: A Population-based Study.
Clin Colorectal Cancer
; 21(3): e171-e178, 2022 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1712514
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health care services worldwide. In the Netherlands, the first confirmed COVID-19 infection was on February 27, 2020. We aimed to investigate the impact of the pandemic on colorectal cancer care in the Netherlands.METHODS:
Colorectal cancer patients who were diagnosed in 25 hospitals in weeks 2 to 26 of the year 2020 were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR) and divided in 4 periods. The average number of patients treated per type of initial treatment was analyzed by the Mantel-Haenszel test adjusted for age. Median time between diagnosis and treatment and between (neo)adjuvant therapy and surgery were analyzed by the Mann Whitney test. Percentages of (acute) resection, stoma and (neo)adjuvant therapy were compared using the Chi-squared test.RESULTS:
In total, 1,653 patients were included. The patient population changed during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding higher stage and more clinical presentation with ileus at time of diagnosis. Slight changes were found regarding type of initial treatment. Median time between diagnosis and treatment decreased on average by 4.5 days during the pandemic. The proportion of colon cancer patients receiving a stoma significantly increased with 6.5% during the pandemic. No differences were found in resection rate and treatment with (neo)adjuvant therapy.CONCLUSION:
Despite the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global health care, the impact on colorectal cancer care in the Netherlands was limited.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Colorectal Neoplasms
/
Colonic Neoplasms
/
COVID-19
/
Intestinal Obstruction
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Clin Colorectal Cancer
Journal subject:
Gastroenterology
/
Neoplasms
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.clcc.2022.02.005
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