Impact of Covid-19 on Breast Cancer Screening.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer screening.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional and retrospective study, which used data extracted from "TABNET" between 2014 to 2020.  Statistical analysis was carried out using the ANOVA model.

RESULT

In 2019, a total of 3,068,776 mammograms were conducted, which significantly decreased to 1,808,765 in 2020.  Since the onset of the pandemic in Brazil in March 2020, there has been a reduction in the number of mammograms performed.  Mammography coverage increased from 0.11 to 0.18 between 2014 and 2019 but sharply declined from 0.18 to 0.10 between 2019 and 2020.

CONCLUSION

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on breast cancer screening efforts, especially in detecting the disease in early stages.  Health services shifted their focus towards caring for COVID-19 patients, therefore neglecting routine screening programs and interventions. Additionally, the population's fear of contagion contributed to a decrease in demand for screening tests.