COVID-19 effect on cancer diagnosis: A retrospective comparative analysis.
Authors: Fabrikant Meytal Shtayer , Miller Christian , Morecock Christiane , Burgess Brooke , Darwish Christina , Amdur Richard , Kaltman Rebecca Davidson 
Published: June 2021

e18506

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many health systems postponed routine screening and care to conserve resources and reduce patient exposure. As a result, several studies have shown a decline in the diagnosis of new cancer cases, a process that relies heavily on the use of screening tools and modalities. The Washington D.C. area is home to a heterogeneous patient population and one of the highest income gaps in the United States. Patterns in healthcare inequality in the area mirror these disparities. This study aims to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer diagnosis rates compared to prior years and analyze whether vulnerable populations in the D.C. area were disproportionately affected. Methods: Data was collected from the George Washington University (GWU) Cancer Registry. The study population included patients age 18 and up residing in D.C., Maryland or Virginia who were diagnosed with any cancer at the GWU Health System within the following date ranges: April 1 to September 30 of 2018, 2019, 2020 and September 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020. Data collected included age at diagnosis, race, ethnicity, cancer site, stage at diagnosis, and patient zip code as a proxy for socioeconomic status (SES). Median income by zip code was labeled as low, middle or high. Chi square analysis was used to compare changes in each of these demographic and SES categories between each time frame. Results: There were 372 new cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 period, April 1 2020 to September 30 2020. During this time period in 2018 and 2019, there were 525 and 539 new cancer diagnoses, respectively. Immediately prior to the COVID-19 period, September 1 2019 to February 29 2020, there were 588 new cancer diagnoses. Patterns of cancer type, age at diagnosis, sex, clinical stage, pathological stage and SES did not significantly differ between the COVID-19 period and any other time period (p > 0.05 for all categories). However, ethnicity did change significantly with a slight increase in the number of Hispanic patients diagnosed during the COVID-19 period as compared to the 2018 and 2019 time periods (p = 0.041) and the September 2019 to February 2020 time period (p = 0.0005). Conclusions: Through this retrospective analysis, we observed a decrease in new cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 period with no significant differences in patient age, sex, cancer type, cancer stage or SES. There was a slight increase in cancer diagnoses among Hispanic patients during the COVID-19 period. These results suggest that most groups were equally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to cancer diagnosis. However, this may be specific to the region we studied and limited by the population size and our means of collecting data about patient SES. Further studies comparing early and late impacts of COVID-19 on cancer care will be important to identify specific communities for targeted outreach and intervention.