Colorectal cancer screening numbers starting to rebound
Courtesy of Metro Creative
Allegheny Health Network is urging patients to continue consulting with doctors about preventative care including screenings for colorectal cancer.
Dr. Katie Farah
When the COVID-19 pandemic started and Western Pennsylvania went into lockdown, many doctor’s offices were closed, appointments were canceled and patients were forced to delay preventive care.
Nationwide, colonoscopy numbers plummeted by 88% in mid-April and were still a third lower than normal at the end of June.
Allegheny Health Network said its colonoscopy procedures dropped by 98.8% in mid-April compared to a year earlier. While screenings increased significantly in May and June, colonoscopy totals were still down 55.4% at the end of June compared to the same period in 2019.
According to the American Cancer Society, excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States. The rate of patients being diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer each year has dropped overall since the mid-1980s in large part because of more screening.
Over the past few months, patients have been starting to visit their care providers again, either in person or via telemedicine, but what about screenings such as colonoscopies that must be done physically?
“We are playing catch-up across the nation,” said Dr. Katie Farah, assistant professor of Medicine at Drexel University School of Medicine and chief quality officer for AHN’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. “It is critical to maintain the momentum of colon cancer screening.”
While totals from March through June show a drop of more than half from the prior year, she said patients are starting to schedule testing again.
“June’s totals are only 11.6% less than 2019, so we have started to rebound,” Farah said. “This rebound will continue as we plan to implement Saturday colonoscopies and perform them on patients who were rescheduled from March through May.”
Farah said even though the schedule for colorectal cancer screenings is starting to fill up again, that doesn’t mean everyone who should be screened is ready to do it just yet.
“Patients have resumed receiving colonoscopies. However, we are seeing more last minute cancellations depending on the news and trends in numbers of COVID-19 cases,” Farah said. “Unfortunately, the last minute cancellations do not allow us to fill these empty spots on the same day and it can lead to a ripple effect with further delays in care.”
In an effort to get screening for those who need to be tested, AHN developed the COLOVID-19 initiative, which was implemented during March, April and May with a goal of capturing all colonoscopy patients lost during the lockdown and getting all of them rescheduled for preventative screenings.
“Through this initiative, patients had adequate follow-up for cancelled screening colonoscopies and were not lost to follow-up,” Farah said. “It ensured a continuum of education and communication with respect to colorectal cancer awareness and prevention during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It will be years before the effects the COVID-19 pandemic may be having on our population’s long-term health because of putting off routine medical care are realized.
Still, Farah is hopeful the rebounding colonoscopy numbers show people are not letting fear get in the way of taking care of their healthcare needs. She warns that doing so could have significant impacts down the road.
“Delay of testing/care for patients due for their first colonoscopy at age 50 could impact their baseline and future outcomes,” Farah said. “Also, with patient’s apprehension and recurrent weekly concerns about COVID-19 and safety, we may be playing catch-up for several months to come.”
She said health care professionals are trying to combat that with continued diligence.
“With follow-up with patients on rescheduling their colonoscopies and adding Saturday colonoscopies, we hope this will reduce the delay in care and allow us to reach patients who are due for their screenings,” Farah said.
What about those patients who want to be screened for colorectal cancer, but who have concerns about COVID or colonoscopies in general?
Farah said there are many options to explore.
“The Allegheny Health Network has taken extreme precautions in patient care during this time,” she said. “Patients with concerns should discuss those with their primary care physician or gastroenterologist.”