REFLEXES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN CERVICAL CANCER TRACKING IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ILHÉUS

Abstract

Introduction: With approximately 570,000 new cases per year worldwide, cervical cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer among women. The presence of the virus and precancerous lesions are identified in the Pap smear, and they are curable in almost all cases. Objective: To analyze the effects of the pandemic on cervical cancer screening in women in the city of Ilhéus-Bahia in the pre-pandemic, pandemic and post-pandemic period of Covid-19. Materials and Methods: This is an observational study with descriptive approaches conducted in the State of Bahia in the municipality of Ilhéus. Data collection was conducted through the Ministry of Health website, Data SUS, and SISCAN, which include the number of screenings of cervical-vaginal cytopathological exams with microflora performed between the years 2018-2023 in women of all age groups registered from the period of the Ministry of Health panel. Results: It was observed that in the year 2020, there was a drastic reduction in cytopathological exams. In total, 2,731 samples were collected per year. On the other hand, it was indicated that, between the years 2018-2019, women aged 35 to 39 presented the highest number of high-grade lesions. Subsequent to the HSIL results, it was observed that women in the age group of 15 to 19 years have a high recurrence of infection. Conclusion: It is concluded, therefore, that the COVID-19 pandemic had negative impacts on the performance of cytopathological exams in the municipality of Ilhéus. Another observed factor was the lack of data on research platforms since the pandemic scenario led to a reduction in the workforce due to their incapacity.