{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,18]],"date-time":"2026-04-18T02:59:13Z","timestamp":1776481153818,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]],"date-time":"2022-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1671408000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":18,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,30]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in access to routine healthcare services worldwide, with a particularly high impact on chronic care patients and low and middle-income countries. In this study, we used routinely collected electronic medical records data to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to cancer care at the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence (BCCOE) in rural Rwanda.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a retrospective time-series study among all Rwandan patients who received cancer care at the BCCOE between 1 January 2016 and 31 July 2021. The primary outcomes of interest included a comparison of the number of patients who were predicted based on time-series models of pre-COVID-19 trends versus the actual number of patients who presented during the COVID-19 period (between March 2020 and July 2021) across four key indicators: the number of new patients, number of scheduled appointments, number of clinical visits attended and the proportion of scheduled appointments completed on time.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In total, 8970 patients (7140 patients enrolled before COVID-19 and 1830 patients enrolled during COVID-19) were included in this study. During the COVID-19 period, enrolment of new patients dropped by 21.7% (95% prediction interval (PI): \u221231.3%, \u221211.7%) compared with the pre-COVID-19 period. Similarly, the number of clinical visits was 25.0% (95% PI: \u221231.1%, \u221219.1%) lower than expected and the proportion of scheduled visits completed on time was 27.9% (95% PI: \u221239.8%, \u221214.1%) lower than expected. However, the number of scheduled visits did not deviate significantly from expected.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Although scheduling procedures for visits continued as expected, our findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted patients\u2019 ability to access cancer care and attend scheduled appointments at the BCCOE. This interruption in care suggests delayed diagnosis and loss to follow-up, potentially resulting in a higher rate of negative health outcomes among cancer patients in Rwanda.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2022-065398","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,19]],"date-time":"2022-12-19T11:22:58Z","timestamp":1671448978000},"page":"e065398","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Impact of COVID-19 on access to cancer care in Rwanda: a retrospective time-series study using electronic medical records data"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Placide","family":"Habinshuti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Informatics Department, Partners In Health\/Inshuti Mu Buzima, Kigali, 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