Special section: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer screening

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, all cancer screening programs in Canada were paused in mid-March 2020, including breast cancer screening services. Some breast cancer screening programs resumed with limited operations in June 2020, with varying dates on when all jurisdictions were able to return to full capacity.

There is a need to quantify the pandemic’s impact on breast cancer screening. While data was not collected specifically for the pre-pandemic and pandemic eras, the participation rate before and during the pandemic provides some insights on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer screening.

Indicator definition: The percentage of change in individuals screened within 12 months between the pre-pandemic and the pandemic era (2019 vs. 2020).

Target: Not applicable

Measurement timeframe:

• 12-month base: 2019 and 2020

Indicator calculation:

• 12-month base (number of screens were extracted from abnormal call rate)
  • Numerator: the difference in individuals screened between 2020 and 2019.
  • Denominator: the number of individuals screened in 2019.

Percentage of change in individuals screened within 12 months for those aged 50-74 between the pre- and the pandemic era (2019 vs 2020), by jurisdiction

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All jurisdictions had a noticeable decrease in the percentage of individuals screened within a 12-month period between 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (pandemic era). The percentage change ranged from -45.1% in Saskatchewan to -15.6% in Prince Edward Island.

Overall, the abrupt cessation of breast cancer screening services due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sharp decline in screening participation. The number of individuals screened for breast cancer in 2020 during the pandemic era was notably lower in all jurisdictions than the number of people screened in 2019 prior to the pandemic. In all jurisdictions combined, there was a 35.7% decrease in the number of individuals screened within a 12-month period between 2019 and 2020. As breast screening services resumed operation by the end of 2020, albeit at limited capacity, screening participation began to recover.