by Dr Róisín McCarthy, Research Officer, National Screening Service
COVID-19 related delays to colonoscopy services did not indicate a negative impact on bowel cancer-related illness or death in Ireland, according to a recent study by the National Screening Service. The study findings were presented by NSS Programme Evaluation Unit head, Dr Therese Mooney, at the International Cancer Screening Network scientific meeting in Turin in June.
Due to limited healthcare resources and the challenges of COVID-19, many cancer services were cancelled or postponed during peak surges of the pandemic. This included bowel screening services. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of screening colonoscopy delays on clinical outcomes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study included 3,618 participants from BowelScreen - the national bowel screening programme - who had positive faecal immunochemical (FIT) tests during the COVID-19 pandemic (study period October 2019 to June 2021). The FIT test is a home testing kit used to send a stool sample to a laboratory to check for small amounts of blood. A positive FIT test does not tell if a person has bowel cancer but it might indicate if a person needs more tests such as a colonoscopy. Participants were categorised into those attending colonoscopy less than 3 months from the date of a positive test, and those attending 3 months or more from the date of a positive test. Clinical outcome data were compared between the two groups.
Delay was defined as waiting 3 months or more. The median delay in this study was 4 to 5 months (range ≥3 to <10 months). The findings showed no significant difference in cancer staging between colonoscopies conducted less than 3 months from the date of a positive FIT test and colonoscopies conducted 3 months or more from the date of a positive FIT test. In addition, no significant difference was found in the number of advanced pre-cancers detected.
Positive results from this study showed that a median delay of 4 to 5 months in screening colonoscopies did not indicate a negative impact on clinical outcomes for patients in Ireland.
This study will be published at a later date.