Impact of Covid-19 on Breast Cancer Screening.

Objective: To assess the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer screening.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional and retrospective study, which used data extracted from "TABNET" between 2014 to 2020.  Statistical analysis was carried out using the ANOVA model.

Result: In 2019, a total of 3,068,776 mammograms were conducted, which significantly decreased to 1,808,765 in 2020.  Since the onset of the pandemic in Brazil in March 2020, there has been a reduction in the number of mammograms performed.  Mammography coverage increased from 0.11 to 0.18 between 2014 and 2019 but sharply declined from 0.18 to 0.10 between 2019 and 2020.

Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on breast cancer screening efforts, especially in detecting the disease in early stages.  Health services shifted their focus towards caring for COVID-19 patients, therefore neglecting routine screening programs and interventions. Additionally, the population's fear of contagion contributed to a decrease in demand for screening tests.