The Impact of COVID19 Restrictions on Diagnostic and Treatment Outcomes in Cancer Care

The Impact of COVID19
Restrictions on Diagnostic
and Treatment Outcomes in
Cancer Care

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PICO framework..........................................................................................................................1
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................1
Search strategy.............................................................................................................................1
Key search terms..........................................................................................................................2
Databases.....................................................................................................................................2
Boolean operators........................................................................................................................3
Inclusion and exclusion criteria...................................................................................................3
REVIEW..........................................................................................................................................4
Result table for explanation of each article.................................................................................4
Critique and analysis of each article............................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
In the UK, there are approximately 3,75, 000 new cancer cases every year. Over half of
the cancer cases consist of lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancer. Moreover, the highest
incidence rates of cancer are found in people aged 85 to 89 years (Cancer incidence, 2021).
These statistics indicate that cancer care requires immediate and strong attention. However, the
spectrum of cancer care has been disrupted by Covid- 19 pandemic. Cancer care has been
marked with a rapid reorganization during Covid to ensure that essential treatment and care is
provided to the patients in a timely manner. The present project systematically reviews the
impact of Covid 19 restrictions on diagnostic and treatment outcomes in cancer care.
PICO framework
PICO framework is a pneumonic which is used for developing and answering a clinical research
question (Eriksen and Frandsen, 2018). PICO framework helps in identifying target patient or
population, intervention, Comparison of selected intervention with another and outcome required
to be achieved. In the present project, this can be applied as follows:
P- Patient or problem- Cancer
I- Intervention – Covid – 19 restrictions
C- Comparison- Nil
O- Outcome – impact on diagnostic and treatment outcomes in cancer care
PICO question: What is the impact of Covid- 19 restrictions on the diagnostic and treatment
outcomes in cancer care?
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Search strategy
For conducting the present project, a systematic search strategy has been identified. This
will comprise of identifying the search terms and searching appropriate databases for searching
suitable articles. Boolean operators will be used for narrowing or broadening the search. Further,
the search strategy will also comprise of setting inclusion and exclusion criteria.
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Key search terms
Key terms are the words that are entered into the databases to search for the relevant
articles on the topic (Selva and et.al., 2017). For the present study, the following key search
terms will be used.
Terms Synonyms
Covid- 19 -
Impact Effect, influence
Restrictions Regulations, limitation, constraints
Diagnostic Diagnosis,
Treatment Cure, therapy
Outcomes Results
Cancer care -
Databases
These are organized collection in which structured information and data are stored and
can be accessed in an electronic form (Linares-Espinós and et.al., 2018). These have been used
in the present study as they provide an easy access to the information on the impact of Covid- 19
restrictions on cancer care (Archer and et. al. 2021). They contain various scholarly and peer –
reviewed articles. Use of database is also justified as they help in saving time by acting as
powerful search tools with the help of which results can be narrowed. The following databases
have been used for the present project:
Database Description
CINAHL This is a database that contains literature on allied
health and nursing, biomedicine and healthcare. Cinahl
Complete contains the largest collection of full text
journals (CINAHL Database, 2021).
PubMed This contains collection of more than 33 million
citations for biomedical literature available on Medline.
This is a free resource and helps in retrieving literature
on biomedical topics (PubMed Overview, 2021).
Science Direct This database provides articles on scientific, technical
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