Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer According to Age Group and Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) Pandemic: Interrupted Time Series Analysis

Objective: To identify if the COVID-19 pandemic interfered in mammograms and breast cancer biopsy, according to age, in Brazilian public health system.MethodsThis is a retrospective population-based study of total and segmented time series, using the Joinpoint Regression Program to calculate the Monthly Percentage Change (MPC).ResultsAt the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a stationary trend in mammograms in 50 to 69 age groups and decreasing in other age groups (MPC from − 40.2% to -42.1%) for 3 months. Subsequently, there was an increasing trend in mammograms in all age groups (MPC from 31.0–38.2%), lasting 5 months, and a stationary period. As for breast biopsies, there was a decreasing trend in all age groups (MPC from − 15.0% to -23.2%), lasting from 3 to 4 months. Subsequently, there was an increasing trend from 30 to 49 years, duration of 5 months, and stationary in the other age groups, until the end of the study. In total time series, there was a decreasing trend in mammograms and an increasing trend in breast biopsies, in all age groups.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic negatively interfered with the early diagnosis of breast cancer in all age groups