Emine GERÇEK ÖTER, Sultan ÖZKAN, Halise ÇINAR

The Effectiveness of Using Telemedicine to Follow-up Breast Cancer During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review

The coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 outbreak has brought to the agenda that telemedicine (TM) services, which are rapidly spreading in the world, can be effective in reducing face-to-face medical appointments for cancer follow-up and breast cancer screening. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of TM use in the follow-up of women diagnosed with breast cancer during the COVID-19 epidemic. The literature search was carried out in four electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Science Direct, and PsycInfo) until April 14, 2020. Electronic searches started on March 22, 2020, and ended on April 14, 2020. Search terms included were tele-health or telephone and pandemic or SARS-COV-2 outbreak. Search was limited to English language and full-text articles. A total of 334 articles matching the search criteria were identified by the researchers. Five articles with no restrictions in research design met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. In these studies, it was determined that TM services are an effective method for relieving outpatient services in breast cancer follow-up, breast imaging, screening, routine follow-up, and examinations. In addition, these studies concluded that TM services save time, increase access to care, provide improvement, and increase satisfaction levels. It was observed that the de mand of women with breast cancer to benefit from TM services was affected by sociodemographic factors (advanced age and low education level, etc.). It is recommended that TM services be taken into account in the realization of individual care and follow-up services for women with breast cancer.

PDF

___

1. Sirintrapun SJ, Lopez AM. Telemedicine in cancer care. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book 2018;38:540–5.
2. Aapro M, Bossi P, Dasari A, Fallowfield L, Gascón P, Geller M, et al. Digital health for optimal supportive care in oncology: Benefits, limits, and future perspec tives. Support Care Cancer 2020;28(10):4589–612.
3. Gudi N, Konapur R, John O, Sarbadhikari S, Landry M. Telemedicine supported strengthening of primary care in WHO South East Asia region: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic experiences. BMJ Innov 2021;7(3):580–5.
4. Hong Z, Li N, Li D, Li J, Li B, Xiong W, et al. Telemedicine during the COVID 19 pandemic: Ex periences from Western China. J Med Internet Res 2020;22(5):e19577.
5. World Health Organization. WHO Director-Gen eral’s Opening Remarks at the Media Briefing on COVID-19. Available at: https://www.who.int/direc tor-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening- -remarks-at-the-mediabriefing-on-covid-19---11- march-2020 Accessed May 22, 2021.
6. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) Situation Reports. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Available at: https:// www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coron avirus-2019/situation-reports Accessed April 15, 2021.
7. de Figueiredo CS, Sandre PC, Portugal LC, Mázala-de Oliveira T, da Silva Chagas L, Raony Í, et al. Covid-19 pandemic impact on children and adolescents’ men tal health: Biological, environmental, and social fac tors. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2021;106:110171.
8. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2019. CA Cancer J Clin 2019;69(1):7–34.
9. Turkish Republic Ministry of Health. (2020) Breast Cancer Prevention, Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment and Follow-up Clinical Guide. T.R. Ministry of Health Publication Number: 1170. T.C. Ankara: General Directorate of Health Services Research, Develop ment and Health Technology Evaluation Department, Available at: https://www.vahitozmen.com/t/wp-con tent/uploads/2020/07/meme-kanseri-rehberi-2020. pdf Accessed May 22, 2021.
10.Curigliano G, Cardoso MJ, Poortmans P, Gentilini O, Pravettoni G, Mazzocco K, et al. Recommendations for triage, prioritization and treatment of breast can cer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Breast 2020;52:8–16.
11.Vicini E, Galimberti V, Naninato P, Vento AR, Ribiero Fontana SK, et al. COVID-19: The European Institute of Oncology as a “hub” centre for breast cancer surgery during the pandemic in Milan (Lombardy Region, Northern Italy) a screenshot of the first month. Eur J Surg Oncol 2020;46:1180–1.
12.American Society of Breast Surgeons. Recommen dations for Prioritization, Treatment and Triage of Breast Cancer Patients during the COVID-19 Pan demic: Executive Summary. Available at: https://www. breastsurgeons.org/docs/news/The_COVID-19_Pan demic_Breast_Cancer_Consortium_Recommenda tions_EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf. Accessed Jun 03, 2021.
13.Tsai HY, Chang YL, Shen CT, Chung WS, Tsai HJ, Chen FM. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast can cer screening in Taiwan. Breast 2020;54:52–5.
14.Al-Shamsi HO Alhazzani W, Alhuraiji A, Coomes EA, Chemaly RF, Almuhanna M, et al. A practical ap proach to the management of cancer patients during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pan demic: An international collaborative group. Oncolo gist 2020;25(6):e936–45.
15.Peters MD, Marnie C, Tricco AC, Pollock D, Munn Z, Alexander L, et al. Updated methodological guidance for the conduct of scoping reviews. JBI Evid Synth 2020;18(10):2119–26.
16.Mella-Abarca W, Barraza-Sánchez V, Ramírez-Parada K. Telerehabilitation for people with breast cancer through the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile. Ecancer medicalscience 2020;14:1085.
17.Yildiz F, Oksuzoglu B. Teleoncology or telemedicine for oncology patients during the COVID-19 pan demic: The new normal for breast cancer survivors? Future Oncol 2020;16(28):2191–5.
18.Zimmerman BS, Seidman D, Berger N, Cascetta KP, Nezolosky M, Trlica K, et al. Patient perception of tele health services for breast and gynecologic oncology care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A single center survey-based study. J Breast Cancer 2020;23(5):542–52.
19.Merz V, Ferro A, Piras EM, Alberto Z, Caffo O, Messina C. Electronic medical record-assisted tele phone follow-up of breast cancer survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A single institution experience. JCO Oncol Pract 2021;17(1):e44–52.
20.Sonagli M, Neto RC, Leite FP, Makdissi FB. The use of telemedicine to maintain breast cancer follow up and surveillance during the COVID 19 pandemic. J Surg Oncol 2021;123(2):371–4.
21.Ortega G, Rodriguez JA, Maurer LR, Witt EE, Perez N, Reich A, et al. Telemedicine, COVID 19, and dis parities: Policy implications. Heal Policy Technol 2020;9(3):368–71.
22.Araujo DV, Watson GA, Siu LL. The day after COVID-19 time to rethink oncology clinical research. JAMA Oncol 2021;7(1):23–4.
23.Bashshur R, Doarn CR, Frenk JM, Kvedar JC, Wool liscroft JO. Telemedicine and the COVID-19 pan demic, lessons for the future. Telemed J E Health 2020;26(5):571–3.
24.Battisti NM, Mislang AR, Cooper L, O’Donovan A, Audisio RA, Cheung KL, et al. Adapting care for older cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: Rec ommendations from the international society of geri atric oncology (SIOG) COVID-19 working group. J Geriatr Oncol 2020;11(8):1190–8.
25.Gill S, Hao D, Hirte H, Campbell A, Colwell B. Impact of COVID-19 on Canadian medical oncologists and cancer care: Canadian association of medical oncolo gists survey report. Curr Oncol 2020;27(2):71–74.