Heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung, colorectal and breast cancer incidence in Hungary: results from time series and panel data models
Objective During the COVID-19 pandemic, health system resources were reallocated to provide care for patients with COVID-19, limiting access for others. Patients themselves also constrained their visits to healthcare providers. In this study, we analysed the heterogeneous effects of the pandemic on...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2022-08-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/8/e061941.full |
| _version_ | 1811284115122552832 |
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| author | Peter Elek Antal Zemplényi Marcell Csanádi Petra Fadgyas-Freyler Nóra Gervai Rita Oross-Bécsi Balázs Szécsényi-Nagy Manna Tatár Balázs Váradi |
| author_facet | Peter Elek Antal Zemplényi Marcell Csanádi Petra Fadgyas-Freyler Nóra Gervai Rita Oross-Bécsi Balázs Szécsényi-Nagy Manna Tatár Balázs Váradi |
| author_sort | Peter Elek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective During the COVID-19 pandemic, health system resources were reallocated to provide care for patients with COVID-19, limiting access for others. Patients themselves also constrained their visits to healthcare providers. In this study, we analysed the heterogeneous effects of the pandemic on the new diagnoses of lung, colorectal and breast cancer in Hungary.Design Time series and panel models of quarterly administrative data, disaggregated by gender, age group and district of residence.Participants Data for the whole population of Hungary between the first quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2021.Main outcome measures Number of patients newly diagnosed with lung, colorectal and breast cancer, defined as those who were hospitalised with the appropriate primary International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision diagnosis code but had not had hospital encounters with such a code within the previous 5 years.Results The incidence of lung, colorectal and breast cancer decreased by 14.4% (95% CI 10.8% to 17.8%), 19.9% (95% CI 12.2% to 26.9%) and 15.5% (95% CI 2.5% to 27.0%), respectively, during the examined period of the pandemic, with different time patterns across cancer types. The incidence decreased more among people at least 65 years old than among the younger (p<0.05 for lung cancer and p<0.1 for colorectal cancer). At the district level, both the previously negative income gap in lung cancer incidence and the previously positive income gap in breast cancer incidence significantly narrowed during the pandemic (p<0.05).Conclusions The decline in new cancer diagnoses, caused by a combination of supply-side and demand-side factors, suggests that some cancer cases have remained hidden. It calls for action by policy makers to engage individuals with high risk of cancer more in accessing healthcare services, to diagnose the disease early and to prepare for effective management of patient pathways from diagnosis to survival or end-of-life care. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T02:23:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5b3022720cbf4f06afa69b023b58f65a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T02:23:46Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-5b3022720cbf4f06afa69b023b58f65a2022-12-22T03:06:51ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552022-08-0112810.1136/bmjopen-2022-061941Heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung, colorectal and breast cancer incidence in Hungary: results from time series and panel data modelsPeter Elek0Antal Zemplényi1Marcell Csanádi2Petra Fadgyas-Freyler3Nóra Gervai4Rita Oross-Bécsi5Balázs Szécsényi-Nagy6Manna Tatár7Balázs Váradi81 Institute of Economics at the Centre for Economic and Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, HungaryFaculty of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacoeconomics, University of Pécs, Pécs, HungarySyreon Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary4 Department of Health Economics, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary5 independent scholar, Budapest, Hungary6 Mediconcept, Budapest, Hungary7 Health Services Management Training Centre, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary9 Centre for Health Technology Assessment, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary10 Budapest Institute for Policy Analysis, Budapest, HungaryObjective During the COVID-19 pandemic, health system resources were reallocated to provide care for patients with COVID-19, limiting access for others. Patients themselves also constrained their visits to healthcare providers. In this study, we analysed the heterogeneous effects of the pandemic on the new diagnoses of lung, colorectal and breast cancer in Hungary.Design Time series and panel models of quarterly administrative data, disaggregated by gender, age group and district of residence.Participants Data for the whole population of Hungary between the first quarter of 2017 and the second quarter of 2021.Main outcome measures Number of patients newly diagnosed with lung, colorectal and breast cancer, defined as those who were hospitalised with the appropriate primary International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision diagnosis code but had not had hospital encounters with such a code within the previous 5 years.Results The incidence of lung, colorectal and breast cancer decreased by 14.4% (95% CI 10.8% to 17.8%), 19.9% (95% CI 12.2% to 26.9%) and 15.5% (95% CI 2.5% to 27.0%), respectively, during the examined period of the pandemic, with different time patterns across cancer types. The incidence decreased more among people at least 65 years old than among the younger (p<0.05 for lung cancer and p<0.1 for colorectal cancer). At the district level, both the previously negative income gap in lung cancer incidence and the previously positive income gap in breast cancer incidence significantly narrowed during the pandemic (p<0.05).Conclusions The decline in new cancer diagnoses, caused by a combination of supply-side and demand-side factors, suggests that some cancer cases have remained hidden. It calls for action by policy makers to engage individuals with high risk of cancer more in accessing healthcare services, to diagnose the disease early and to prepare for effective management of patient pathways from diagnosis to survival or end-of-life care.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/8/e061941.full |
| spellingShingle | Peter Elek Antal Zemplényi Marcell Csanádi Petra Fadgyas-Freyler Nóra Gervai Rita Oross-Bécsi Balázs Szécsényi-Nagy Manna Tatár Balázs Váradi Heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung, colorectal and breast cancer incidence in Hungary: results from time series and panel data models BMJ Open |
| title | Heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung, colorectal and breast cancer incidence in Hungary: results from time series and panel data models |
| title_full | Heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung, colorectal and breast cancer incidence in Hungary: results from time series and panel data models |
| title_fullStr | Heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung, colorectal and breast cancer incidence in Hungary: results from time series and panel data models |
| title_full_unstemmed | Heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung, colorectal and breast cancer incidence in Hungary: results from time series and panel data models |
| title_short | Heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lung, colorectal and breast cancer incidence in Hungary: results from time series and panel data models |
| title_sort | heterogeneous impact of the covid 19 pandemic on lung colorectal and breast cancer incidence in hungary results from time series and panel data models |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/8/e061941.full |
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