Impact COVID-19 pandemic on lung cancer care from screening to postoperative follow-up

ABSTRACT

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has presented various challenges for the healthcare system. This study aims to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Lung Cancer Screening (LCS), Lung Resections (LR), and Outpatient Visits (OPV). Methods: This is a longitudinal quasi-experimental time-series analysis using data from the institutional electronic medical records (EMR) from January 2018 to December 2021, considering the first and second waves of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts;March, and November 2020, respectively. The main outcomes were (A) Monthly LCS exams, (B) Monthly LR surgeries, (C) Monthly Overall-cancer-OPV. Results: 9,057 LSC exams, 333 LR surgeries, and 5,918 outpatient visits were analyzed. The average patient age that underwent LCS was 64;48.9% were female and 91.4% White. LR was performed in patients 67 years old on average, 67.7% female and 93.6% White. The Overall-cancer-OPV was 58.1% for female patients, 89.4% for White patients, and the overall average patient age was 68 years. The monthly number of LCS (A) presented a statistically significant reduction in the first wave (p = 0.001) with a significant recovery in the following months with a monthly increase rate of 26 exams per month (p = 0.002). The second wave did not represent a sharp reduction in the LCS. Nevertheless, a significant monthly reduction of 44 exams was found. There was no statistical decline for the monthly LR surgeries (B). However, an increase in time from the first visit to the surgery was observed. The COVID-19 surges did not significantly impact the (C) Monthly Overall-cancer-OPV, and it was due to the implementation of telehealth services. The use of telehealth prevented a decline in OPV of 59% (p = 0.001) overall and 40% (p = 0.0190) for cancer. Telehealth visits accounted for 27.7% of cancer-related visits. Female patients were more likely to have a telehealth appointment. White, Black, and Asian patients presented with a similar percentage of telehealth use (26.3%, 25.0%, and 26.8%), while Latinos were less likely to have a telehealth appointment when compared with non-Latinos (18%, p < 0.02). Age was not significantly different between telehealth and non-telehealth appointments. However, for those who preferred a phone appointment, the average age was 67 years old, while for those who used video appointments, the age was 63 (p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic affected significantly LCS while lung resections were stable over time;nonetheless, the time from the first visit to surgery increased. The use of telehealth technology allowed patients with cancer to safely receive care throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. The adoption of telehealth can expand access to care in the pandemic context in low-resource areas. Still, future studies should assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on staging at diagnosis, time to treatment initiation, and survival, especially for the underserved population.