Time to Diagnosis and Treatment Initiation During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Rural Patients With Cancer

Izumi Okado; Michelle Liu; Carry Elhajj; Brenda Y. Hernandez; Lynne Wilkens; Randall F. Holcombe

doi:10.1177/10105395241240968

Time to Diagnosis and Treatment Initiation During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Rural Patients With Cancer

Izumi Okado, Michelle Liu, Carry Elhajj, Brenda Y. Hernandez, Lynne Wilkens, Randall F. Holcombe

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Time to diagnosis (TTD) and treatment initiation (TTI) are important measures of access to and quality of cancer care. This study addressed the knowledge gap on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TTD and TTI for rural cancer patients. Sixty-three cancer patients residing in rural areas of the state of Hawaii were surveyed in 2020 to 2021. Overall, 67.5% of participants reported TTD within one month of reporting symptoms to a health care provider. Mean TTI for the overall sample was 55.3 days, and among breast cancer patients, 57.9 days. Compared with pre-pandemic state registry data, mean TTI for the overall sample and breast cancer patients were significantly longer than the state registry null value of 40 days (P =.02 and P =.05, respectively). During the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer patients in rural Hawaii experienced substantial delays in TTI compared with pre-pandemic years.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	387-390
Number of pages	4
Journal	Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
Volume	36
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/10105395241240968
State	Published - May 2024
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic
cancer care coordination
rural cancer care
treatment initiation

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title = "Time to Diagnosis and Treatment Initiation During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Rural Patients With Cancer",

abstract = "Time to diagnosis (TTD) and treatment initiation (TTI) are important measures of access to and quality of cancer care. This study addressed the knowledge gap on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TTD and TTI for rural cancer patients. Sixty-three cancer patients residing in rural areas of the state of Hawaii were surveyed in 2020 to 2021. Overall, 67.5% of participants reported TTD within one month of reporting symptoms to a health care provider. Mean TTI for the overall sample was 55.3 days, and among breast cancer patients, 57.9 days. Compared with pre-pandemic state registry data, mean TTI for the overall sample and breast cancer patients were significantly longer than the state registry null value of 40 days (P =.02 and P =.05, respectively). During the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer patients in rural Hawaii experienced substantial delays in TTI compared with pre-pandemic years.",

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AU - Okado, Izumi

AU - Liu, Michelle

AU - Elhajj, Carry

AU - Hernandez, Brenda Y.

AU - Wilkens, Lynne

AU - Holcombe, Randall F.

PY - 2024/5

Y1 - 2024/5

N2 - Time to diagnosis (TTD) and treatment initiation (TTI) are important measures of access to and quality of cancer care. This study addressed the knowledge gap on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TTD and TTI for rural cancer patients. Sixty-three cancer patients residing in rural areas of the state of Hawaii were surveyed in 2020 to 2021. Overall, 67.5% of participants reported TTD within one month of reporting symptoms to a health care provider. Mean TTI for the overall sample was 55.3 days, and among breast cancer patients, 57.9 days. Compared with pre-pandemic state registry data, mean TTI for the overall sample and breast cancer patients were significantly longer than the state registry null value of 40 days (P =.02 and P =.05, respectively). During the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer patients in rural Hawaii experienced substantial delays in TTI compared with pre-pandemic years.

AB - Time to diagnosis (TTD) and treatment initiation (TTI) are important measures of access to and quality of cancer care. This study addressed the knowledge gap on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TTD and TTI for rural cancer patients. Sixty-three cancer patients residing in rural areas of the state of Hawaii were surveyed in 2020 to 2021. Overall, 67.5% of participants reported TTD within one month of reporting symptoms to a health care provider. Mean TTI for the overall sample was 55.3 days, and among breast cancer patients, 57.9 days. Compared with pre-pandemic state registry data, mean TTI for the overall sample and breast cancer patients were significantly longer than the state registry null value of 40 days (P =.02 and P =.05, respectively). During the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer patients in rural Hawaii experienced substantial delays in TTI compared with pre-pandemic years.

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ER -

Time to Diagnosis and Treatment Initiation During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Rural Patients With Cancer

Abstract

Keywords

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