“Purpose: To examine whether cancer screening prevalence in the United States during 2021 has returned to prepandemic levels using nationally representative data…
Results: … Between 2019 and 2021, the number of people who reported receipt of screening in the past year decreased from 28.8 million to 27.7 million (1.1 million fewer women in 2021; 95% CI, –2.6 million to 0.5 million) for breast cancer, from 35.9 million to 31.5 million (4.4 million fewer women in 2021; 95% CI, –6.3 million to –2.5 million) for cervical cancer, and from 10.3 million to 9.7 million (0.7 million fewer men; 95% CI, –1.6 million to 0.2 million) for prostate cancer…
Discussion: In this study of population-based nationally representative survey data, past-year screening for breast, cervical, and prostate cancer in the United States decreased anywhere from 6% to 15% between 2019 and 2021, deviating from prepandemic stable or increasing trends…
These declines have significant public health implications as they are expected to lead to more advanced stage cancer diagnosis in the future.”
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