The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Staging: An Experience from a Tertiary Healthcare in a Developing Country
Mujeeb Rehman Malik, Omema Saleem, Umme Habiba, Faisal Ghani Siddiqui
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ABSTRACT
Objective:
To assess the impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on
Breast Cancer presentation at our tertiary healthcare facility.
Study design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.
Setting: Patients will be selected from surgical unit I, Dow University
Hospital, Ojha campus, Dow University of Health sciences, Karachi.
Duration of study: 1 year (February
2020 till February 2021)
Methods: All patients undergoing Breast cancer surgery from February 2020 to
2021 were enrolled in the study. Recurrent cases were excluded. A proforma was
used to measure their demographics, Histopathological and surgical details. The
data was analyzed to observe any correlation between the patient
characteristics and COVID-associated factors, including monthly incidence,
mortality and recoveries in the province Sindh.
Result:
One hundred and seventy-six female patients
were enrolled in the study. A significant association of mean stage was
observed with respect to monthly incidence (p =0.012) and mortality (p =0.010)
due to the COVID -19 pandemic.
Conclusion: Breast clinics and surgeries should continue during COVID waves due to
high risk of disease complications, especially on the overall survival of the
patient.