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Popovic M, Fiano V, Moirano G, Chiusa L, Conway DI, Garzino Demo P, Gilardetti M, Iorio GC, Moccia C, Ostellino O, Pecorari G, Ramieri G, Ricardi U, Riva G, Virani S, Richiardi L. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis in the Piedmont Region, Italy: Interrupted Time-Series Analysis. Front Public Health 2022; 10:809283. [PMID: 35265573 PMCID: PMC8899030 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.809283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has likely affected the most vulnerable groups of patients and those requiring time-critical access to healthcare services, such as patients with cancer. The aim of this study was to use time trend data to assess the impact of COVID-19 on timely diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC) in the Italian Piedmont region. Methods This study was based on two different data sources. First, regional hospital discharge register data were used to identify incident HNC in patients ≥18 years old during the period from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020. Interrupted time-series analysis was used to model the long-time trends in monthly incident HNC before COVID-19 while accounting for holiday-related seasonal fluctuations in the HNC admissions. Second, in a population of incident HNC patients eligible for recruitment in an ongoing clinical cohort study (HEADSpAcE) that started before the COVID-19 pandemic, we compared the distribution of early-stage and late-stage diagnoses between the pre-COVID-19 and the COVID-19 period. Results There were 4,811 incident HNC admissions in the 5-year period before the COVID-19 outbreak and 832 admissions in 2020, of which 689 occurred after the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy. An initial reduction of 28% in admissions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (RR 0.72, 95% CI 0.62-0.84) was largely addressed by the end of 2020 (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.89-1.03) when considering the whole population, although there were some heterogeneities. The gap between observed and expected admissions was particularly evident and had not completely recovered by the end of the year in older (≥75 years) patients (RR: 0.88, 0.76-1.01), patients with a Romano-Charlson comorbidity index below 2 (RR 0.91, 95% CI: 0.84-1.00), and primary surgically treated patients (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.97). In the subgroup of patients eligible for the ongoing active recruitment, we observed no evidence of a shift toward a more advanced stage at diagnosis in the periods following the first pandemic wave. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic has affected differentially the management of certain groups of incident HNC patients, with more pronounced impact on older patients, those treated primarily surgically, and those with less comorbidities. The missed and delayed diagnoses may translate into worser oncological outcomes in these patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja Popovic
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- SC Epidemiologia dei Tumori CRPT U, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Centro di Riferimento per l'Epidemiologia e la Prevenzione Oncologica (CPO) Piemonte, Turin, Italy
| | - Valentina Fiano
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- SC Epidemiologia dei Tumori CRPT U, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Centro di Riferimento per l'Epidemiologia e la Prevenzione Oncologica (CPO) Piemonte, Turin, Italy
| | - Giovenale Moirano
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- SC Epidemiologia dei Tumori CRPT U, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Centro di Riferimento per l'Epidemiologia e la Prevenzione Oncologica (CPO) Piemonte, Turin, Italy
| | - Luigi Chiusa
- Pathology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza Hospital, Turin, Italy
| | - David I. Conway
- School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Paolo Garzino Demo
- Maxillofacial Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza Hospital, Turin, Italy
| | - Marco Gilardetti
- SC Epidemiologia dei Tumori CRPT U, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Centro di Riferimento per l'Epidemiologia e la Prevenzione Oncologica (CPO) Piemonte, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Chiara Moccia
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- SC Epidemiologia dei Tumori CRPT U, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Centro di Riferimento per l'Epidemiologia e la Prevenzione Oncologica (CPO) Piemonte, Turin, Italy
| | - Oliviero Ostellino
- Oncology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza Hospital, Turin, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Pecorari
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Guglielmo Ramieri
- Maxillofacial Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza Hospital, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Giuseppe Riva
- Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Shama Virani
- Genomic Epidemiology Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO), Lyon, France
| | - Lorenzo Richiardi
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- SC Epidemiologia dei Tumori CRPT U, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria (A.O.U.) Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Centro di Riferimento per l'Epidemiologia e la Prevenzione Oncologica (CPO) Piemonte, Turin, Italy
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