O efeito da pandemia de Covid-19 no rastreamento do câncer do colo do útero no Estado de Sergipe

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic that occurred in Brazil in 2020 forward changed the behavior of the population, which stopped seeking health services for preventive and routine exams. At the same time, the health services in order to combat the damage caused by the pandemic that was in its most serious phase had to reorganize. The objective/goal of this study is to identify the impact of the pandemic caused by SARS-COV2 on cervical cancer screening in the state of Sergipe. This is a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, carried out with data collected from the DATASUS database. Cytopathological exams performed between January of 2014 to December of 2022 were analyzed. According to the data obtained, there was a reduction in the number of exams during the year of 2020, followed by a return to the pre-pandemic pattern in the following years, but with a higher number of atypias. Thus, it can be concluded that the pandemic had a short-term negative effect on cervical cancer screening, and may also lead to future repercussions in the medium and long term.