The COVID-19 Pandemic's Effect on Preventive Imaging
There was a significant decrease in overall volume of bilateral mammograms, bone density examinations, and aortic ultrasound examinations after pandemic shutdown. For mammograms, some of this decreasing trend was already seen before shutdown (such as for patients with Other race), so the shutdown was only specifically associated with an immediate decrease in mammogram levels in the Hispanic and Latino group. For bone density examinations, the shutdown was unexpectedly associated with an increase in volumes for Hispanic or Latino patients and non-Hispanic Black patients, which was countered by a significant steep decrease in volumes only for patients of Other race. Health systems should carefully explore their preventive screening examination volumes to determine which patients should be actively engaged to assure catch up on recommended care.
Authors
- Ling Chu
- Yee S. Ng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-2075)
- DuWayne L. Willett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3087-4193)
- Jenny L. Weon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4815-6659)
- Robert W. Turer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1387-640X)
- Marlon I Diaz
- Christoph U. Lehmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9559-4646)
- Yin Xi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9743-3010)
- Lauren N Cooper (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4000-9192)
- Samuel McDonald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8383-3854)
Institutions
- Texas Tech University (US)
- The University of Texas at El Paso (US)
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- AJPM Focus
- Published
- 2024-08-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.focus.2024.100270
- Primary Topic
- COVID-19 and healthcare impacts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences