Impact of COVID‐19 on cervical cancer screening in Japan: A survey of population‐based screening in urban Japan by the Japan Society of Gynecologic Oncology

Aim To assess the impact of COVID‐19 on cervical cancer screening. Method The Japanese Society of Gynecologic Oncology launched COVID‐19 Task Force surveyed the municipalities in urban areas of Japan. Questionnaires were sent to 20 ordinance‐designated cities and 23 wards of Tokyo metropolitan area in Japan via telephone and mail in January 2021. An additional survey was conducted in March and April 2021, counted the monthly checkups in 2020 and, as a control data, the number of monthly checkups in 2019. “The State of Emergency” between April 7 and May 25, 2020, included 13 prefectures. The data collected in this research involved the number of screenings only. The chi‐square test was performed for statistical analysis. Results The number of cancer screenings from March to August, with May being the month with the lowest number of screenings, was less than 50% of that in the previous year. In particular, the drop in the number of cancer screenings in the “Prefectures operating under special safety precautions” was remarkable and significantly lower than that in other Prefectures. However, after August, the number recovered to the usual level, despite the second wave of the pandemic occurring nationwide. The initial “the State of Emergency” caused a significant decrease in the number of people receiving population‐based screenings, but the recovery has been remarkable, and the total number is expected to be the same as in previous years. Conclusion The initial “the State of Emergency” caused a significant decrease in the number of people receiving population‐based screenings.