Changes in breast cancer treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic: a Dutch population-based study.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

We aimed to compare (1) treatments and time intervals between treatments of breast cancer patients diagnosed during and before the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) the number of treatments started during and before the pandemic.

Methods

Women were selected from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. For aim one, odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated to compare the treatment of women diagnosed within four periods of 2020: pre-COVID (weeks 1-8), transition (weeks 9-12), lockdown (weeks 13-17), and care restart (weeks 18-26), with data from 2018/2019 as reference. Wilcoxon rank-sums test was used to compare treatment intervals, using a two-sided p-value < 0.05. For aim two, number of treatments started per week in 2020 was compared with 2018/2019.

SUBMITTER: Eijkelboom AH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9638417 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature