CDC says mammography screenings declined 87% during initial days of the pandemic

Breast cancer screenings dropped 87% during the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Wednesday.

The declines were particularly pronounced among low-income populations and women of color. Experts with the CDC are urging radiologists and other providers to remain vigilant amid concerns of more advanced cancers cropping up in the future after patients missed their routine checkups in 2020.

“CDC encourages healthcare professionals to help minimize delays in testing by continuing routine cancer screening for women having symptoms or at high risk for breast or cervical cancer,” Amy DeGroff, PhD, a health scientist for the agency and lead author of the study, said in a statement. 

For the study, scientists looked to data from the CDC’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, which provides screening services for disadvantaged populations. They found that mammography screenings plummeted nearly 90% in April 2020 when compared to previous five-year averages for the same month. Cervical cancer screenings, meanwhile, fell 84%.

These breast imaging declines persisted across metro (86%), urban (88%) and rural (89%) areas. And certain minority populations such as Latina women (84%) and American Indian/Alaskan native women (98%) were hit harder, DeGroff and colleagues reported. However, screening volumes had begun to recover across all groups by June 2020.

Causes for the decline likely included screening site closures, stay-at-home orders, and the temporary suspension of mammography and other nonurgent services. The investigation is the latest in a series of studies highlighting COVID-19’s outsized impact on imaging, including one with similar results published May 24 in JAMA Network Open.

You can read the full CDC investigation, shared June 30 in Preventive Medicine, here.