Impact of Coronavirus 2019 on Breast Cancer Screening in African American Women.
In a retrospective health-system cohort of 385,419 women aged 18–74, non-Hispanic Black women had a statistically shorter interval between their pre-pandemic and pandemic mammograms than non-Hispanic White women.
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In a retrospective health-system cohort of 385,419 women aged 18–74, non-Hispanic Black women had a statistically shorter interval between their pre-pandemic and pandemic mammograms than non-Hispanic White women.
Research significance
The study provides evidence of a racial difference in mammography timing during COVID-19, but it does not test a treatment or screening intervention; any hypothesis that identifying the health-system factors underlying this pattern could improve equitable screening continuity is inferential.
Source abstract
Breast cancer, one of the most common cancers in America, exhibits health disparities disfavoring non-Hispanic Black women. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on non-Hispanic Black women compared with non-Hispanic White women receiving mammograms. This study is a retrospective chart review conducted at a large health system in the South that included patients who were female, non-Hispanic Black or non-Hispanic White, between the ages of 18 to 74 years. The primary endpoint was time from previous mammogram prior to COVID-19 pandemic to first mammogram during the pandemic. The cohort included 385,419 patients with the majority identifying as non-Hispanic White. The time between mammogram pre-COVID and mammogram during COVID for Black women was 75.42 (56.00, 126.29) weeks compared with 79.57 (56.89, 136.14) weeks for White women (p <.0001). Black women were more likely to receive a mammogram sooner than White women during the COVID-19 pandemic.