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. 2023 Apr:32:102157.
doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102157. Epub 2023 Feb 20.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the breast cancer early diagnosis program in Brazil

Marcelo Antonini  1   2 , Denise J P da C Pinheiro  1 , Ana B T de M B Matos  1 , Odair Ferraro  1 , Andre Mattar  3 , Lucas M Okumura  4 , Reginaldo G C Lopes  1   2 , Juliana M Real  2
Affiliations

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the breast cancer early diagnosis program in Brazil

Marcelo Antonini et al. Prev Med Rep. 2023 Apr.

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several screening exams were postponed, including mammograms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 in mammographic screening in Brazil, considering 2015 to 2021. This was descriptive ecologic study based on the retrospective data of Brazil's mammographic screening program. A Brazilian national screening database (DATASUS - SISCAN (Cancer System Information)) was used as the data source, and the data in this database are publicly available for download and analysis. We report the number of screening rate from January 2015 to December 2021, using 2020 as reference year for COVID-19. From 2015 to 2021, 10,763,894 mammograms were performed and included in the analysis. Reductions of 39.6% and 13.3% were found in 2020 in 2021, respectively. During the pandemic's peak, the reduction was more pronounced, with maximum reductions of 82.4% in May 2020 and 34.8% in April 2021. There was an increase in the number of mammograms performed on high-risk patients from 11.2% in 2020 to 13.9% in 2021. This research demonstrated a decline in the breast cancer screening rate during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic; this reduction will increase the burden of advanced breast cancer, potentially impacting morbidity and mortality related to this neoplasm.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of examinations carried out in the period 2015–2021 and the projection of examinations if the pandemic did not occur. Source. DATASUS – SISCAN accessed on 02/02/2022.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Monthly distribution of mammograms performed in 2015–2021. Source: DATASUS – SISCAN, accessed on 02/02/2022.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percentage of confirmed COVID-19 cases among the total Brazilian population, from 2020 to 2021. Source: https://covid.saude.gov.br, 02.02.2022.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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