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© 2023 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ . Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in access to routine healthcare services worldwide, with a particularly high impact on chronic care patients and low and middle-income countries. In this study, we used routinely collected electronic medical records data to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to cancer care at the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence (BCCOE) in rural Rwanda.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective time-series study among all Rwandan patients who received cancer care at the BCCOE between 1 January 2016 and 31 July 2021. The primary outcomes of interest included a comparison of the number of patients who were predicted based on time-series models of pre-COVID-19 trends versus the actual number of patients who presented during the COVID-19 period (between March 2020 and July 2021) across four key indicators: the number of new patients, number of scheduled appointments, number of clinical visits attended and the proportion of scheduled appointments completed on time.

Results

In total, 8970 patients (7140 patients enrolled before COVID-19 and 1830 patients enrolled during COVID-19) were included in this study. During the COVID-19 period, enrolment of new patients dropped by 21.7% (95% prediction interval (PI): −31.3%, −11.7%) compared with the pre-COVID-19 period. Similarly, the number of clinical visits was 25.0% (95% PI: −31.1%, −19.1%) lower than expected and the proportion of scheduled visits completed on time was 27.9% (95% PI: −39.8%, −14.1%) lower than expected. However, the number of scheduled visits did not deviate significantly from expected.

Conclusion

Although scheduling procedures for visits continued as expected, our findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted patients’ ability to access cancer care and attend scheduled appointments at the BCCOE. This interruption in care suggests delayed diagnosis and loss to follow-up, potentially resulting in a higher rate of negative health outcomes among cancer patients in Rwanda.

Details

Title
Impact of COVID-19 on access to cancer care in Rwanda: a retrospective time-series study using electronic medical records data
Author
Habinshuti, Placide 1 ; Nshimyiryo, Alphonse 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Donald Luke Fejfar 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Niyigena, Anne 2 ; Cubaka, Vincent K 2 ; Karema, Nadine 1 ; Jean Bosco Bigirimana 4 ; Shyirambere, Cyprien 4 ; Barnhart, Dale A 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Kateera, Fredrick 4 ; Fulcher, Isabel 6 

 Informatics Department, Partners In Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima, Kigali, Rwanda 
 Research and Training Department, Partners In Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima, Kigali, Rwanda 
 Partners In Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA 
 Clinical Department, Partners In Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima, Kigali, Rwanda 
 Research and Training Department, Partners In Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima, Kigali, Rwanda; Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA 
 Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA 
First page
e065398
Section
Oncology
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group LTD
e-ISSN
20446055
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2833898182
Copyright
© 2023 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ . Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.