Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
J Med Screen. 2021 Jun;28(2):210-212. doi: 10.1177/0969141321999426. Epub 2021 Mar 4.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to delays in cancer diagnosis, in part due to postponement of cancer screening. We used Google Trends data to assess public attention to cancer screening during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Search volume for terms related to established cancer screening tests ("colonoscopy," "mammogram," "lung cancer screening," and "pap smear") showed a marked decrease of up to 76% compared to the pre-pandemic period, a significantly greater drop than for search volume for terms denoting common chronic diseases. Maintaining awareness of cancer screening during future public health crises may decrease delays in cancer diagnosis.
COVID-19 大流行导致癌症诊断延迟，部分原因是癌症筛查被推迟。我们使用谷歌趋势数据评估了 COVID-19 大流行第一波期间公众对癌症筛查的关注度。与既定癌症筛查测试相关的术语（“结肠镜检查”、“乳房 X 光检查”、“肺癌筛查”和“巴氏涂片”）的搜索量与大流行前相比下降了高达 76%，比表示常见慢性疾病的术语的搜索量下降幅度更大。在未来的公共卫生危机期间，保持对癌症筛查的认识可能会减少癌症诊断的延迟。
