Effects of the Pandemic on the Care of Patients With Colorectal Cancer

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Anke Reinacher-Schick - , Ruhr University Bochum (First author)
  • Matthias Philip Ebert - , Universitätsmedizin Mannheim (Author)
  • Pompiliu Piso - , Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy Regensburg (Author)
  • Dietrich Hüppe - , Marien Hospital Herne (Author)
  • Jochen Schmitt - , Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare (Joint last author)
  • Jan Schildmann - , Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Joint last author)
  • Ulrike Attenberger - , University of Bonn (Author)
  • Ambros Beer - , Ulm University (Author)
  • M. Bentz - (Author)
  • Stefan R. Bentz - (Author)
  • Thomas Birkner - , Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare (Author)
  • Jens Büntzel - (Author)
  • Peter Fasching - (Author)
  • Inke Sabine Feder - (Author)
  • Wolfgang Fischbach - (Author)
  • Sarah Förster - (Author)
  • Emmanouil Fokas - (Author)
  • Birgit Fricke - (Author)
  • Erich Grohmann - (Author)
  • Helene Hense - , Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare (Author)
  • Ralf Hofheinz - (Author)
  • Stefan Huster - (Author)
  • Patrick Jahn - (Author)
  • Monika Klinkhammer-Schalke - (Author)
  • Wolfgang Knauf - (Author)
  • Anna-Lena Kraeft - , Ruhr University Bochum (Author)
  • Celine Lugnier - (Author)
  • Bernd Oliver Maier - , Chefarzt Med Klin 3 (Author)
  • Georg Marckmann - (Author)
  • Günter Niegisch - , Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Author)
  • Lutz Otto - (Author)
  • Uwe Pelzer - , Free University of Berlin (Author)
  • Henning Rosenau - (Author)
  • Olaf Schoffer - , Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare (Author)
  • Jalid Sehouli - (Author)
  • Sabine Sommerlatte - , Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Author)
  • Andrea Tannapfel - , Ruhr University Bochum (Author)
  • Falko Tesch - , Center for Evidence-Based Healthcare (Author)
  • Ulrich Wedding - (Author)
  • Simone Wesselmann - (Author)
  • Eva Winkler - (Author)
  • Bernhard Wörmann - (Author)
  • Tanja Zimmermann - (Author)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a decrease in the rates of diagnosis and treatment of cancer. However, only a few detailed analyses have been made to date regarding the effect of the pandemic on the care of cancer patients in Germany. Such studies are needed as the basis for well-founded recommendations on health-care delivery priorities during pandemics and other, comparable situations of crisis.

METHODS: This review is based on publications that were retrieved by a selective search of the literature for controlled studies from Germany on the effects of the pandemic on colonoscopies, first diagnoses of colorectal cancer (CRC), surgical procedures for CRC, and CRC-related mortality.

RESULTS: Compared to 2019, the rate of screening colonoscopies performed by physicians in private practice was 1.6% higher in 2020 and 4.3% higher in 2021. On the other hand, the rate of diagnostic colonoscopies in the inpatient setting was 15,7% lower in 2020, while that of therapeutic colonoscopies was 11.7% lower. According to the data evaluated here, first diagnoses of CRC were 2.1% less common in January to September in 2020 than they had been in 2019; according to routine data collected by the statutory health insurance provider GRK, surgery for CRC was 10% less common in 2020 than in 2019. With regard to mortality, sufficient data from Germany were lacking to draw definite conclusions. International modeling data suggest an increase in mortality due to decreased colorectal screening rates during the pandemic that may at least be partially compensated for by intensified screening strategies following the pandemic.

CONCLUSION: Three years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still only a limited evidence base for an evaluation of the effects of the pandemic on medical care and on the outcomes of patients with CRC in Germany. The implementation of central data and research infrastructures will be necessary for further study of the long-term effects of this pandemic, as well as to enable optimal preparedness for future crisis situations.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)545-552
Number of pages8
JournalDeutsches Arzteblatt International
Volume120
Issue number33-34
Publication statusPublished - 21 Aug 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMedCentral PMC10546886
Scopus 85171901350
ORCID /0000-0003-3051-9965/work/157769176
ORCID /0000-0001-6922-7148/work/168207706

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Humans, Pandemics, Early Detection of Cancer, COVID-19, Colonoscopy, Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis