New Findings from Ruhr-University Bochum in the Area of COVID-19 Described (Effects of the Pandemic On the Care of Patients With Colorectal Cancer): Coronavirus – COVID-19

2023 NOV 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at CDC & FDA Daily -- Current study results on Coronavirus - COVID-19 have been published. According to news reporting originating in Bochum, Germany, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a decrease in the rates of diagnosis and treatment of cancer. However, only a few detailed analyses have been made to date regarding the effect of the pandemic on the care of cancer patients in Germany.”

Financial supporters for this research include CancerCOVID research network, Federal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF), CancerCOVID project.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Ruhr-University Bochum, “Such studies are needed as the basis for well-founded recommendations on health-care delivery priorities during pandemics and other, comparable situations of crisis. This review is based on publications that were retrieved by a selective search of the literature for controlled studies from Germany on the effects of the pandemic on colonoscopies, first diagnoses of colorectal cancer (CRC), surgical procedures for CRC, and CRC-related mortality. Compared to 2019, the rate of screening colonoscopies performed by physicians in private practice was 1.6% higher in 2020 and 4.3% higher in 2021. On the other hand, the rate of diagnostic colonoscopies in the inpatient setting was 15,7% lower in 2020, while that of therapeutic colonoscopies was 11.7% lower. According to the data evaluated here, first diagnoses of CRC were 2.1% less common in January to September in 2020 than they had been in 2019; according to routine data collected by the statutory health insurance provider GRK, surgery for CRC was 10% less common in 2020 than in 2019. With regard to mortality, sufficient data from Germany were lacking to draw definite conclusions. International modeling data suggest an increase in mortality due to decreased colorectal screening rates during the pandemic that may at least be partially compensated for by intensified screening strategies following the pandemic. Three years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still only a limited evidence base for an evaluation of the effects of the pandemic on medical care and on the outcomes of patients with CRC in Germany.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The implementation of central data and research infrastructures will be necessary for further study of the long-term effects of this pandemic, as well as to enable optimal preparedness for future crisis situations.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Effects of the Pandemic On the Care of Patients With Colorectal Cancer. Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 2023;120. Deutsches Arzteblatt international can be contacted at: Deutscher Aerzte-verlag Gmbh, Dieselstrabe 2, Postfach 400265, D-50859 Cologne, Germany.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Anke Reinacher-Schick, Ruhr-University Bochum, St. Josef Hospital, Dept Hematol & Oncol Palliat Care, Bochum, Germany. Additional authors for this research include Matthias Philip Ebert, Pompiliu Piso, Jochen Schmitt and Jan Schildmann.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.m2023.0139. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)