Berlin.
Colon cancer, skin cancer, heart attack: In the third year of Corona, the supply gaps have become even larger. who is particularly affected.
The corona pandemic is still in the bones of the Germans: Many children suffer from the long-term effects of the lockdowns, some adults from . Some people with other diseases were less well cared for – because treatments were postponed or because patients did not go to the doctor for fear of infection. New figures now show a dangerous trend: The health gaps have not gotten smaller in the third year of the pandemic, they have actually gotten bigger. Why is that – and who is particularly affected.
Kassenstudie: Push “bow wave” in cancer after Corona in front of us
The evaluation of the insured person’s data for the year 2022 shows “an alarming trend,” says cashier Carola Reimann, CEO of the AOK Federal Association. The number of hospital treatments and check-ups After 2020 and 2021, it continued to decrease in the third year of the pandemic. “But people are probably no healthier than they used to be.”
On the contrary: “Due to a lack of early detection and unusual treatments, it may be that we are just at cancers push a bow wave of additional disease burden in front of us.” In other words: The pandemic is coming to an end, but the health consequences of the past three years will keep the country busy for a long time: “There can be no talk of real normalization yet,” says Reimann. Also interesting: These checkups are important
Nationwide, the AOK represents around 27 million insured persons. An initial evaluation of the data for 2022 is available to this editorial team. Overall, it is evident that the total number of cases of clinical treatments According to the AOK, there was a 13 percent decrease in 2020 compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019, and a year later the decrease was 14 percent. In 2022, hospital cases even fell by 15 percent by November compared to 2019.
Corona pandemic causes alarming decline in cancer screening
The decline in preventive check-ups, especially for early cancer detection, is particularly alarming: the AOK data from 2022 already available show that the number of preventive check-ups in the first half of the year, especially for cervical cancer and skin cancer, fell by 11 percent compared to 2019.
“So far, the number of check-ups has not returned to the old, pre-pandemic level,” warns health insurance manager Reimann. “Those who do not take part in preventive medical check-ups increase their risk of serious ones disease progression. The later a disease is discovered, the more difficult the treatment often becomes.” Also read: Biontech – How mRNA therapy should help against cancer
Colorectal cancer: changed preventive behavior after the pandemic
Colon cancer surgeries are during the Pandemic been carried out much less frequently than before – a trend that intensified again in the third year of the pandemic. According to AOK figures, the number of interventions fell by 16 percent last year compared to the pre-pandemic period. Drops of minus 10 percent (2020) and minus 12 percent (2021) were already recorded in previous years. The development could have something to do with the lack of diagnostics, which had already been seen in previous evaluations, according to the health insurance company. “The early detection tests missed during the pandemic could also play a role.”
Luckily, the numbers have recently gone up again: In the second quarter of 2022, there was an increase of nine percent in colonoscopies for early detection, and in the first quarter of 2022 it was even 17 percent more than in the year before the pandemic. The list of possible reasons OKthat the number of eligible policyholders had been expanded. Another factor may also be the new invitation system.
But: If you take the increase in early detection examinations and the decline in diagnostic colonoscopies together, it shows in the colonoscopies in 2021, a decline of four percent compared to 2019. A similarly strong decline had already been recorded the year before. Relaxation, on the other hand, is indicated in hip operations: according to the data, the supply has now returned to normal.
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Caring for stroke and heart attack patients
“We are very concerned about the decline in hospital cases heart attacks and strokes,” says Reimann. Here, too, the data for the past year showed that the number of cases treated had fallen more sharply than in the first and second years of the pandemic. “We can’t explain it 100 percent. Apparently, however, people with milder symptoms in particular were often not treated in the hospital.”
The urgent appeal therefore continues to apply: In these emergencies, patients should definitely and without hesitation alert the emergency services, according to Reimann.
Less preventive care, fewer interventions: why is it?
There are several factors for the tricky supply gaps: “Many patients have changed their health behavior as a result of the pandemic, many avoid medical practices and hospitals for fear of infection,” says Reimann. But something else is having a stronger effect: In the two Omicron waves at the beginning of 2022 and in the summer of 2022, the clinics had to contend with enormous staff shortages due to corona diseases.
While the first waves were mainly about increasing hospital capacities for the seriously ill Corona patients to keep it free, many surgeries and treatments had to be canceled last year due to staff shortages. First of all because of the omicron variant, later also because of the flu epidemic.
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