Open AccessThe Effects of COVID-19 on Cancer Care Provision: A Systematic Review
Author(s) -
Samiha Alom,
Chun Ming Chiu,
Ashwarya Jha,
Sheung Heng Daniel Lai,
Thomas Ho Lai Yau,
Amer Harky
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cancer control
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.794
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1526-2359
pISSN - 1073-2748
DOI - 10.1177/1073274821997425
Subject(s) - medicine , outreach , social distance , intervention (counseling) , pandemic , medline , restructuring , population , health care , cancer , service (business) , psychological intervention , covid-19 , family medicine , nursing , environmental health , economic growth , pathology , political science , business , disease , marketing , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law , economics
This systematic review aims to gather primary data from cancer institutions that have implemented changes to cancer service provision amid the COVID-19 outbreak to inform future intervention and health care facility response strategies. A comprehensive literature search was done on Global Health Medline and EMBASE using pertinent key words and MeSH terms relating to COVID-19 and Cancer service provision. A total of 72 articles were selected for inclusion in this systematic review. Following the narrative synthesis that was conducted of the literature, 6 core themes that encompassed common cancer service intervention adopted by institutions were identified: (1) Testing and Tracking, (2) Outreach and Communication, (3) Protection, (4) Social Distancing (5) Treatment Management, (6) Service Restructuring. Since cancer patients are a high-risk population amid the COVID-19 pandemic, these areas of targeted intervention can be used to inform necessary actions in institutions facing similar risks, based on previous learning from numerous cancer centers globally.