Changes in New Patient Consultations During the COVID-19 Pandemic at a Canadian Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Autor:	Barron CC; Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada., Pittman T; Department of Biostatistics, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.; Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada., Xu W; Department of Biostatistics, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada., Madunic M; Princess Margaret Cancer Registry, Cancer Clinical Research Unit, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada., Agelastos N; Princess Margaret Cancer Registry, Cancer Clinical Research Unit, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada., Goldstein D; Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Surgical Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada., Brierley J; Department of Radiation Medicine, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada., Krzyzanowska MK; Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN [J Natl Compr Canc Netw] 2024 Jun 25; Vol. 22 (5). Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jun 25.
DOI:	10.6004/jnccn.2024.7003
Abstrakt:	Background: The impact of COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions on cancer services is emerging. We evaluated the impact of the first 2 years of the pandemic on new patient consultations for all cancers at a comprehensive cancer center within a publicly funded health care system and assessed whether there was evidence of stage shift. Methods: We performed a retrospective study using the Princess Margaret Cancer Registry. New consultations with medical, radiation, or surgical oncology were categorized by year and quarter. Logistic regression was used to assess the effect of period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer stage at consultation, adjusting for age, sex, and diagnosis location (our hospital network vs elsewhere). Results: In all, 53,759 new patient consultations occurred from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2022. After the pandemic was declared, there was a decrease in all types of consultations by 43.3% in the second quarter of 2020, and referral volumes did not recover during the first year. There was no evidence of stage shift for all cancer types during the later quarters of the pandemic for the overall population. Conclusions: New patient consultations decreased across cancer stages, referral type, and most disease sites at our tertiary cancer center. We did not observe evidence of stage shift in this population. Further research is needed to determine whether this reflects the resilience of our health care system in maintaining cancer services or a delay in the presentation of advanced cancer cases. These data are important for shaping future cancer care delivery and recovery strategies.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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