| Title |
Changes of colorectal cancer diagnostics and hospitalizations during first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Lithuania |
| Authors |
Jurkevičiūtė, Dignė ; Mauravičiūtė, Sandra ; Dulskas, Audrius ; Kildušienė, Inga ; Stratilatovas, Eugenijus ; Jarmalaitė, Sonata |
| DOI |
10.15388/Amed.2023.30.1.4 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
Acta medica Lituanica.. Vilnius : Vilniaus universiteto leidykla. 2023, vol. 30, no. 1, p. 39-44.. ISSN 1392-0138. eISSN 2029-4174 |
| Keywords [eng] |
COVID-19 pandemic ; colorectal cancer ; colorectal cancer screening ; short-term results |
| Abstract [eng] |
Purpose: Our aim was to see the possible effect of the first COVID pandemic wave in Lithuania on colorectal cancer (CRC) preventive, diagnostic and treatment procedures. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using the database of the National Cancer Institute, Lithuania. We have divided patients into two groups: group 1 – patients treated during the nonpandemic period (2019 January 1 to 2019 July 31) and group 2 – the pandemic period (2020 January 1 to 2020 July 31). We analyzed numbers of screening, therapeutic colonoscopies performed, and treated patients for CRC during two periods. Results: In general, 1318 lower gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures were performed in the first group and 862 procedures in the second group, which was 34.6% less compared to the first group. The first group included 672 (51%) colonoscopies, 172 (13%) day surgeries and 474 (36%) CRC screening programmes. In group 2, 456 (34.6%) less patients underwent CRC diagnostics and treatment: 141 (21%) less colonoscopies, 93 (54%) less day surgeries, 222 (47%) less CRC screening programmes, and 26 (13%) less patients were hospitalized for surgical treatment (196 vs 170). Conclusion: Our study reveals worrying changes in the timely access to diagnostic procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic that possibly provoked rise in cases with the advanced stage CRC. However, despite numerical difference between groups existed, the difference between groups do not reach statistical significant level. |
| Published |
Vilnius : Vilniaus universiteto leidykla |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2023 |
| CC license |
|
