MONDAY, March 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — In 2023, reported breast and colorectal cancer screening rebounded from pandemic-related declines, and rates were higher than in 2019, according to a research letter published online March 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Jessica Star, M.P.H., from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, and colleagues obtained data from the National Health Interview Survey to estimate postpandemic cancer screening rates in 2023 relative to previously documented declines through 2021.

In 2023, 6,829, 8,888, and 13,144 individuals were eligible for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening, respectively. The researchers found that the reported past-year breast cancer screening and colorectal screening increased by 7 and 12 percent, respectively, between 2019 and 2023. Rebounds between 2021 and 2023 in breast cancer screening and colonoscopy screening underlay these increases (adjusted prevalence ratios, 1.14 and 1.13, respectively), as did a sustained increase in stool testing (6.6 percent in 2019 and 10.1 percent in 2021 and 2023). In 2023, reported cervical cancer screening remained below 2019 estimates (adjusted prevalence ratio, 0.86), and was unchanged from 2021.

“To prevent further shifts toward later-stage diagnoses, efforts must address declines in cervical cancer screening and disparities by socioeconomic status in all three screening types,” the authors write. “Health systems and health care professionals could play a major role by improving screening communications and providing patient navigators to help address structural and cost barriers.”

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