Changes in cancer screening process in primary care during the covid-19 pandemic. A record-based descriptive study

OBJECTIVES: To reveal the number of cancer screenings in primary care during the pandemic period and whether there is a change in screening compared to the pre-pandemic period. METHODS: This record-based descriptive study was carried out by evaluating the number of people who applied to family health centers or cancer early diagnosis, screening, and education center (KETEM) units for cancer screening (breast, cervical, and colorectal) for any reason. The study data were scanned between January 2017 and December 2020 and were obtained from the Gaziantep Provincial Health Directorate Cancer Branch. RESULTS: Breast cancer screening was the highest in December 2019 (n=2971), cervical cancer screening was the highest in October 2019 (n=4693), and colon cancer screening was the highest in September 2019 (n=2464). Breast cancer screening was the lowest in August 2020 (n=0), cervical cancer screening was the lowest in May 2020 (n=6), and colon cancer screening was the lowest in February and March 2018. Although the target populations and percentages in breast cancer, cervical cancer and colon cancer screenings increased with the following years, the screening populations and percentages decreased in 2020 compared to other years (percentages, 4.4%, 6.2%, 1.9%). CONCLUSION: For cancers that can be prevented by early diagnosis, it is of great importance to increase cancer screenings, which have decreased with the pandemic, to the required level.