Screening slowdowns spelled tens of thousands fewer mammograms, hundreds more missed diagnoses

Breast cancer screening slowdowns last year spelled tens of thousands of fewer mammograms and hundreds more missed diagnoses, according to new data published Thursday. in Cancer.

The proliferation of COVID-19 in spring 2020 led to postponements in routine healthcare services, including regular imaging check-ins. Previous studies have documented these changes, but information is less prevalent on how these disruptions impacted minority populations, American Cancer Society experts wrote recently.  

Examining data from 32 community health centers, researchers estimated that 63% women should have been screened in 2020, if historical trends from the previous years continued. However, less than 50% were imaged for breast cancer last year, or roughly 47,517 fewer mammograms and 242 missed diagnoses.

“Declining [breast cancer screening rates] among [community health centers] during the COVID-19 pandemic call for policies to support and resources to identify women in need of screening,” Stacey Fedewa, PhD, the American Cancer Society’s senior principal scientist, risk factors and screening surveillance research, and colleagues wrote Aug. 26. “These actions will be critical for returning to and surpassing pre-pandemic BCSRs in CHCs and the lower income populations that they serve.”

For the study, experts used secondary data from centers participating in a grant program to bolster breast cancer services, funded in partnership with the National Football League. Fedewa et al. defined a breast cancer screening as any woman ages 50-74 who had a medical visit in the past year and mammogram in last 27 months. They found that screening rates rose 18% from 2018-2019 but dropped 8% from 2019-2020 due to COVID-related disruptions. Declines were consistent across centers, though magnitudes were greater at those serving higher proportions of Black patients.

“This study is important because these populations have long-standing barriers to accessing care, lower breast screening rates, higher breast cancer mortality rates, and are especially vulnerable to healthcare disruptions,” Fedewa said in a statement.

Marty Stempniak

Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic. 

Trimed Popup
Trimed Popup