Your browser doesn't support javascript.
CHANGING PERFORMANCE OF COLORECTAL CANCER SCREENING FOLLOWING A COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN KOREA
Gastroenterology ; 162(7):S-1031, 2022.
Article in English | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-1967398
ABSTRACT
Background/

Aim:

It is easy to predict that the actual COVID-19 pandemic would have had a negative impact on cancer screening activities and the outcomes of screenings, but to date, real-time population-based evidence to substantiate this concern is very scarce. In this study, to understand the changes in the behavior and performance of CRC screening following the COVID-19 pandemic, the indicators of CRC screening processes and outcome measures were compared with both monthly data in 2019 and monthly changes focusing on the peaks that appeared in 2020.

Method:

This population-based nationwide study used fecal immunochemical test (FIT) and colonoscopy claims data from the Korean National Health Insurance System (NHIS) from 2019 to 2020. Data were analyzed from 15,867,759 subjects in 2019 and 16,155,930 subjects in 2020. We compared the data of CRC screening (FIT/ colonoscopy) of the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020) with those of the same period of 2019.

Result:

In the COVID-19 period, 3,445,660 (21.3%) subjects underwent FIT, whereas in 2019, 6,490,707 (40.9%) subjects performed FIT (almost 2-fold). Participation rate in colonoscopy after FIT positive fell in 2020 by 36.0% compared with the average rate recorded in 2019 (44.5%). In particular, it was confirmed that the participation rate of the CRC screening further decreased immediately after the COVID-19 peak periods (first and second wave March 2020 and August 2020).

Conclusion:

The overall adherences to CRC screening tests decreased substantially during COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, urgent modulation for not only easier access but also planning a restart for CRC screening is needed to address the growing burden of under-detected CRC in Korea.
Keywords

Full text: Available Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: EMBASE Language: English Journal: Gastroenterology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article

Similar

MEDLINE

...
LILACS

LIS


Full text: Available Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: EMBASE Language: English Journal: Gastroenterology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article