Surviving the Storm: The Impact of COVID-19 on Cervical Cancer Screening in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Vahabi, Mandana; Shahil-Feroz, Anam; Lofters, Aisha; Wong, Josephine Pui-Hing; Prakash, Vijayshree; Pimple, Sharmila; Anand, Kavita; Mishra, Gauravi

doi:10.3390/healthcare11233079

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic there was a sharp decrease in the detection of various types of cancer [16,17] with an increased proportion of cancer diagnoses at advanced stages [18]. This negative effect was due to shortcomings in health systems, lack of preparedness and resource availability, but also to the increased number of COVID-19 cases that the demand for SARS-CoV-2 testing is competing with the ability to deliver HPV testing, [18] compounded by a shortage of staff [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact Of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic On The Diagnosis Of Cervical Cancer And Precursor Lesions - A Single Center Retrospective Study

Balan,

Secosan,

Sorop

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Objective: The aim of our study was to perform a retrospective analysis of the volume of cervical screening tests, the number of patients treated with an excision method, and the incidence of invasive and non-invasive cervical during a pandemic and pre-pandemic period of 24 months. Results: There was a statistically significant age difference between the two study periods, both by the average age of patients and by age group. The mean difference was 32 years before the pan-demic and 35 years during the pandemic (p-value >0.05). The majority of patients presenting for investigations before and during the pandemic were in the 30-39-year-old age group (31.95%, respectively; 34.2% (p-value = 0.003). The biggest patient loss ratio identified by age group was in the 50–59 years: 14,53% in the pre-pandemic period and 9,1% in the pandemic period. In the pan-demic period, patients from rural areas presented in the clinical trial with a lower rate of 39.52% (83 patients) vs. 60.47% (127 patients) in urban areas. A higher percentage of patients experiencing cervicorrhagia as a clinical manifestation in the pandemic period vs. the prepandemic period, with an increase in more severe lesions in the pandemic period, has a statistical significance of 8% more newly diagnosed compared to the pre-pandemic period. Conclusion: The addressability of the patients during the COVID period was not affected in a drastic way in our study. We encountered a decrease in appointments in the age group 50–59 years and a decrease in patients with rural residence. In our study, we found an increase in cervicorrhagia as a reason for consultation in the pandemic period with a higher lesion degree, both on a pap smear and on a cervical biopsy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact Of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic On The Diagnosis Of Cervical Cancer And Precursor Lesions - A Single Center Retrospective Study

Balan,

Secosan,

Sorop

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a sharp decrease in the detection of various types of cancer [ 16 , 17 ], with an increased proportion of cancer diagnoses at advanced stages [ 18 ]. This negative effect was not only due to shortcomings in health systems, a lack of preparedness, and resource availability but also to the increased number of COVID-19 cases, where the demand for SARS-CoV-2 testing is competing with the ability to deliver HPV testing [ 18 ], compounded by a shortage of staff [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on the Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer and Precursor Lesions—A Single-Center Retrospective Study

Balan,

Secosan,

Sorop

et al. 2024

Medicina

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Background and Objectives: Our aim was to perform a retrospective analysis of the volume of cervical screening tests, the number of patients treated with an excision method, and the incidence of invasive and non-invasive cervical during a pandemic and pre-pandemic period of 24 months. Materials and Methods: The study compared 404 patients who underwent cervical cone biopsy for cervical cancer. The study examined patients’ specimens based on histopathological characteristics and categorized cervical lesions based on pap smear. Results: There was a statistically significant age difference between the two study periods. The mean difference was 32 years before the pandemic and 35 years during the pandemic (p-value > 0.05). The biggest patient loss ratio identified by age group was in the 50–59-year group, with a 14.53% loss in the pre-pandemic period and a 9.1% loss in the pandemic period. In the pandemic period, patients from rural areas presented in the clinical trial with a lower rate of 39.52% (83 patients) vs. 60.47% (127 patients) in urban areas. A higher percentage of patients experiencing cervicorrhagia as a clinical manifestation in the pandemic period vs. the pre-pandemic period, with an increase in more severe lesions in the pandemic period, had a statistical significance of 8% more newly diagnosed compared to the pre-pandemic period. Conclusions: The addressability of the patients during the COVID period was not affected in a drastic way in our study. We encountered a decrease in appointments in the age group of 50–59 years and a decrease in patients with rural residence. In our study, we found an increase in cervical bleeding as a reason for consultation in the pandemic period with a higher lesion degree, both on a pap smear and on a cervical biopsy.

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The effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the delivery of maternal and child health services in South Africa

Iileka,

Geldenhuys,

Nyasulu

2024

Infectious Diseases Now

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Surviving the Storm: The Impact of COVID-19 on Cervical Cancer Screening in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Cited by 3 publications

References 31 publications

Impact Of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic On The Diagnosis Of Cervical Cancer And Precursor Lesions - A Single Center Retrospective Study

Impact Of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic On The Diagnosis Of Cervical Cancer And Precursor Lesions - A Single Center Retrospective Study

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on the Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer and Precursor Lesions—A Single-Center Retrospective Study

The effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the delivery of maternal and child health services in South Africa

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