ArticleCMAJ open
Adherence to guidance for prioritizing higher risk groups for breast cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Ontario Breast Screening Program: a descriptive study.
Article in CMAJ open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- A systematic review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer screening and diagnosis.Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2023Pooled it
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening: A Systematic Review.In vivo (Athens, Greece)Pooled it
- Changes in female cancer diagnostic billing rates over the COVID-19 period in the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.Therapeutic advances in medical oncology · 2025Article
- Changes in Screening Test Volume in the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2022.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Noteworthy impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening: A systematic review.Fundamental research · 2024Review
- COVID-19 pandemic impact on the potential exacerbation of screening mammography disparities: A population-based study in Ontario, Canada.Preventive medicine reports · 2024Article
- Timeliness and Modality of Treatment for New Cancer Diagnoses During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Utilization of a rapid diagnostic centre during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced diagnostic delays in breast cancer.American journal of surgery · 2023Article
- Delivery of Cancer Care in Ontario, Canada, During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- An update on the status of breast cancer screening in Brazil after the covid-19 pandemic.Revista de saude publica · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBreast cancer screening in Ontario, Canada, was deferred during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a prioritization framework to resume services according to breast cancer risk was developed. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the pandemic within the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) by comparing total volumes of screening mammographic examinations and volumes of screening mammographic examinations with abnormal results before and during the pandemic, and to assess backlogs on the basis of adherence to the prioritization framework.
methodsA descriptive study was conducted among women aged 50 to 74 years at average risk and women aged 30 to 69 years at high risk, who participated in the OBSP. Percentage change was calculated by comparing observed monthly volumes of mammographic examinations from March 2020 to March 2021 with 2019 volumes and proportions by risk group. We plotted estimates of backlog volumes of mammographic examinations by risk group, comparing pandemic with prepandemic screening practices. Volumes of mammographic examinations with abnormal results were plotted by risk group.
resultsVolumes of mammographic examinations in the OBSP showed the largest declines in April and May 2020 (> 99% decrease) and returned to prepandemic levels as of March 2021, with an accumulated backlog of 340 876 examinations. As of March 2021, prioritization had reduced the backlog volumes of screens for participants at high risk for breast cancer by 96.5% (186 v. 5469 expected) and annual rescreens for participants at average risk for breast cancer by 13.5% (62 432 v. 72 202 expected); there was a minimal decline for initial screens. Conversely, the backlog increased by 7.6% for biennial rescreens (221 674 v. 206 079 expected). More than half (59.4%) of mammographic examinations with abnormal results were for participants in the higher risk groups.
interpretationPrioritizing screening for those at higher risk for breast cancer may increase diagnostic yield and redirect resources to minimize potential long-term harms caused by the pandemic. This further supports the clinical utility of risk-stratified cancer screening.
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