A recent survey has found that the rates of screening for colorectal cancer using colonoscopies dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic while there was an improvement in the number of people opting for at-home tests for this disease during that time.
Previous studies have aptly documented how patients were reluctant to honor their doctor appointments for illnesses that were not related to the coronavirus. However, a team of researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University (“VCU”) wanted to obtain an accurate picture of the situation with respect to colorectal cancer screening.
Not surprisingly, the team established that reluctance levels were high among patients with regard to visiting a hospital for a colonoscopy. However, many patients were willing to have a home-based test done. The findings revealed a 30% higher acceptance of home-based testing when compared to the figures captured pre-pandemic.
Dr. Kristine Kenning, the study’s lead author, presented the results of this survey, which involved 765 individuals aged 50 and above. Kenning made the presentation at this year’s clinical congress of the American College of Surgeons. She observed that the pandemic has increased the barriers to cancer screening and there is an urgent need to collaborate with members of the community in order to find workarounds to those barriers.
The survey found that a significant portion of the respondents (41%) revealed that they were concerned about the copayment related to undergoing colorectal cancer screening, and this financial implication played a role in their decision to delay undergoing screening. The team also found that before the pandemic, 2.6% of patients reported that they were unemployed. This number shot up to 7.4% during the pandemic, providing further proof that economic factors were at play in the low rates of screening observed.
Furthermore, 65.9% of the survey respondents expressed fears about exposure to the pandemic, and 59% of this group admitted that they delayed going for screening because of this concern. When asked to suggest solutions to this concern, survey participants stated that they be given protective wear such as gloves and masks, while others suggested that their appointments be made at smaller doctor offices. Others also recommended scheduling their visits during the weekend. Most importantly, nearly half (48.1%) expressed a preference for at-home tests such as a fecal occult blood test as opposed to undergoing a colonoscopy at a hospital.
The findings of this survey emphasize how important it is to customize cancer screening in accordance with the preferences of individual patients. The researchers also pointed out that it is crucial for healthcare providers to discuss the pros and cons of the different available screening options so that patients can choose what works best for them.
With entities such as AnPac Bio-Medical Science Co. Ltd (NASDAQ: ANPC) working to advance the field of cancer detection, technologies that can detect cancer much earlier and less intrusively could soon become commercially available.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to AnPac Bio-Medical Science Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: ANPC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ANPC
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