posted on 2022-06-25, 00:10authored byJason K Gurney, Alex Dunn, Michelle Liu, Michelle MakoMichelle Mako, Elinor Millar, Myra Ruka, Sue Crengle, Paul Dawkins, Christopher Jackson, George Laking, Diana Sarfati
AIM: The purpose of this article is to examine disparities in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to lung cancer diagnosis and access to clinical services between Māori and non-Māori. METHODS: Using national-level data, we examined age-standardised lung cancer registrations, diagnostic procedures (bronchoscopy) and lung surgeries separately by ethnic group for the years 2018-2020, as well as patterns of stage of diagnosis. RESULTS: We found a trend toward a reduction in rates of lung cancer registration in Māori (but not non-Māori/non-Pacific) New Zealanders in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019, but no apparent shift in the distribution of stage at diagnosis. We found a trend toward a reduction in rates of bronchoscopy for both Māori and non-Māori/non-Pacific patients, with the largest reduction observed for Māori. Rates of lung cancer surgery appeared to have reduced for Māori patients, although this was based on a small number of procedures. CONCLUSIONS: We observed disparities between Māori and non-Māori/non-Pacific patients in lung cancer registration and bronchoscopy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Preferred citation
Gurney, J. K., Dunn, A., Liu, M., Mako, M., Millar, E., Ruka, M., Crengle, S., Dawkins, P., Jackson, C., Laking, G. & Sarfati, D. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 on lung cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment for Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. N Z Med J, 135(1556), 23-43. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35728246