The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Screening

Abstract

The aim was to present the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic related to breast cancer screening. This is a crosssectional descriptive, qualitative and exploratory study. For data collection, an interview script with open and closed questions was used, which was applied to professional nurses from basic health units in a municipality in Alto Vale do Itajaí. Data analysis took place using the discourse analysis technique. Five nurses were interviewed and data collection ended due to exhaustion of subjects. Data were treated according to three categories of analysis, namely: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and barriers to access breast cancer screening; adaptive strategies and measures to meet the demands of women’s health and the perception of nurses regarding women’s adherence to breast cancer prevention programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is expected to contribute to the construction of scientific knowledge to support decision-making by authorities in situations of public calamity, being able to analyze the impacts caused in this pandemic, in order to prevent long-term damage to the population in similar situations.