Patient Care Access News

Pandemic Tanked Cancer Screening Rates, But Cancer Diagnoses Didn’t Rise

Epic Health Research Network data confirmed that cancer screening rates went down at the start of the pandemic, but it mollified concerns about late-stage diagnoses down the line.

dip in cancer screening rate did not result in influx of cancer diagnosis

Source: Getty Images

By Sara Heath

- It’s a well documented fact that cancer screening rates went down during the pandemic, after offices had to defer patient access to preventive screenings to both preserve the medical workforce and keep patients socially distanced. But new data from the Epic Health Research Network gives a glimmer of hope, showing that patients dodged cancer diagnoses and diagnoses of serious illness in the aftermath.

These findings may comfort healthcare experts who worried that the decline in cancer screening rates would result in an upswing of late-stage cancer diagnosis. Cancers that are diagnosed in later stages can be harder to treat and come with poorer prognoses.

Moreover, the study showed that cancers screening rates have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.