The results of an online questionnaire of 609 breast cancer survivors in the U.S. suggest that nearly half of patients experienced delays in care during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The results of an online questionnaire of 609 breast cancer survivors in the U.S. suggest that nearly half of patients experienced delays in care during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, is published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
“The motivation for the study came from widespread reports of cancer care being delayed or procedures being canceled in the beginning of the pandemic, and we wanted to get a better handle on what was happening,” said Elizabeth Papautsky, assistant professor of biomedical and health information sciences at the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences.
Papautsky and co-author Tamara Hamlish, a research scientist in the cancer survivorship program at the University of Illinois Cancer Center, developed a questionnaire that asked about care delays. They distributed the questionnaire to U.S. breast cancer survivor groups on social media and via email. They used the National Cancer Institute’s definition of a cancer survivor, which includes anyone who has received a diagnosis of cancer.
Between April 2 and April 27, the researchers received 609 responses.
Read more at University of Illinois Chicago
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