Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35933572›Full record

ArticleCancer causes & control : CCC2022

Trends in breast and prostate cancer screening and diagnostic procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic in central Massachusetts.

Mara M Epstein, Devi Sundaresan, Meagan Fair, Hassan Fouayzi, Erica T Warner, Lawrence D Garber, Jerry H Gurwitz, Terry S Field

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer causes & control : CCC, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Mara M EpsteinThe Meyers Health Care Institute, A Joint Endeavor of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Fallon Health, and Reliant Medical Group, 365 Plantation Street Biotech 1, Suite 100, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA. mara.epstein@umassmed.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7906-4856
Devi SundaresanReliant Medical Group, Worcester, MA, USA.
Meagan FairReliant Medical Group, Worcester, MA, USA.
Hassan FouayziThe Meyers Health Care Institute, A Joint Endeavor of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Fallon Health, and Reliant Medical Group, 365 Plantation Street Biotech 1, Suite 100, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
Erica T WarnerClinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mongan Institute, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2671-0313
Lawrence D GarberReliant Medical Group, Worcester, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1500-5421
Jerry H GurwitzThe Meyers Health Care Institute, A Joint Endeavor of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Fallon Health, and Reliant Medical Group, 365 Plantation Street Biotech 1, Suite 100, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
Terry S FieldThe Meyers Health Care Institute, A Joint Endeavor of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Fallon Health, and Reliant Medical Group, 365 Plantation Street Biotech 1, Suite 100, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School · USReliant Medical Group · USHarvard University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeWe calculated rates of breast and prostate cancer screening and diagnostic procedures performed during the COVID-19 pandemic through December 2021 compared to the same months in 2019 in a large healthcare provider group in central Massachusetts.

methodsWe included active patients of the provider group between January 2019 and December 2021 aged 30-85 years. Monthly rates of screening mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis, breast MRI, total prostate specific antigen (PSA), and breast or prostate biopsy per 1,000 people were compared by year overall, by age, and race/ethnicity. Completed procedures were identified by relevant codes in electronic health record data.

resultsRates of screening mammography, tomosynthesis, and PSA testing reached the lowest levels in April-May 2020. Breast cancer screening rates decreased 43% in March and 99% in April and May 2020, compared to 2019. Breast cancer screening rates increased gradually beginning in June 2020 through 2021, although more slowly in Black and Hispanic women and in women aged 75-85. PSA testing rates decreased 34% in March, 78% in April, and 53% in May 2020, but rebounded to pre-pandemic levels by June 2020; trends were similar across groups defined by age and race/ethnicity.

conclusionThe observed decline in two common screening procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic reflects the impact of the pandemic on cancer early detection and signals potential downstream effects on the prognosis of delayed cancer diagnoses. The slower rate of return for breast cancer screening procedures in certain subgroups should be investigated to ensure all women return for routine screenings.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsCOVID-19Prostatic NeoplasmsAgedAged, 80 and overCOVID-19 TestingEarly Detection of CancerHumansMaleMammographyMass ScreeningPandemicsProstate-Specific AntigenProstate-Specific AntigenBreast cancerCOVID-19MammographyProstate cancerProstate specific antigenScreening

Identifiers

PMID35933572
PMCPMC9361987
OpenAlexW4290059159

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.