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Background: Short period from diagnosis to breast cancer (BC) treatment initiation remains challenging for the public health system in Brazil, which may have been further affected by the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study assessed BC diagnosis-to-treatment intervals (DTi) in Brazil and the possible effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on delays. Methods: The Painel de Monitoramento de Tratamento Oncológico database was queried to obtain the number of Brazilian patients with a BC confirmed diagnosis and initiating cancer treatment in the pre-COVID-19 (2013-2019) and during the COVID-19 (2020-2021) periods, adopting a 60-day limit as timely treatment. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 315,951 cases were included (females: 99.3% and males: 0.7%), of which 251,667 and 64,284 records were computed before and during the COVID-19 years, respectively. Most patients failed to perform the first cancer treatment within 60 days (>60: 51.8%). We observed an upward trend in the number of BC treatments provided in the pre-COVID-19 years (r2 = 0.9575; p < 0.05), but the volume of treatments exhibited an average reduction of 24.6% yearly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The average DTi in days was 122.4, 122.5 and 122.3 in the total period studied, before and during the COVID-19 outbreak, respectively. The arrival of COVID-19 in Brazil increased the chances of treatment delay (OR = 1.043; p < 0.05) and inverted the proportion of early/advanced stages at BC diagnosis (55.8%/44.2%-48.4%/51.6%). Conclusion: COVID-19 has imposed changes in BC care in Brazil, reducing the number of treatments provided by the Brazilian public health system, increasing the chances of delayed treatment initiation despite no differences in DTi averages being identified, and raising the proportion of advanced-stage diagnoses.

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: Arterial diseases represent a severe public health problem in the 21st century. Although men have a higher overall prevalence, reports have suggested that women may exhibit atypical manifestations, be asymptomatic, and have hormonal peculiarities, resulting in worse outcomes and severe emergencies, such as acute limb ischemia (ALI). OBJECTIVES: To analyze the morbidity and mortality profile of ALI emergencies in Brazil between 2008 and 2019. METHODS: An ecological study was carried out with secondary data from SIH/SUS, using ICD-10 code I.74 The proportions of emergency hospital admissions and in-hospital mortality rates (HMR) by gender, ethnicity, and age were extracted from the overall figures. P<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: From 2008 to 2019, there were 195,567 urgent hospitalizations due to ALI in Brazil, 111,145 (56.8%) of which were of men. Women had a higher HMR (112:1,000 hospitalizations) than men (85:1,000 hospitalizations) (p<0.05), and a higher chance of death (OR=1.36; p<0.05). Furthermore, mean survival was significantly higher among men (8,483/year versus 6,254/year; p<0.05). Stratified by ethnicity, women who self-identified as white (OR=1.44; p<0.05), black (OR=1.33; p<0.05), and brown (RR=1.25; p <0.05) had greater chances of death than men in the same ethnicity categories. Moreover, women over the age of 50 years had a higher chance of death, with a progressive increment in risk as age increased. CONCLUSIONS: There was a trend to worse prognosis in ALI emergencies associated with women, especially in older groups. The literature shows that the reasons for these differences are still poorly investigated and more robust studies of this relevant disease in the area of vascular surgery are encouraged.

CONTEXTO: Doenças arteriais representam um grave problema de saúde pública no século XXI. Apesar de homens apresentarem maior prevalência geral, estudos sugerem que mulheres podem cursar com quadros assintomáticos, clínica atípica e particularidades hormonais, que resultam em desfechos desfavoráveis e urgências graves, como oclusões arteriais aguda (OAA). OBJETIVOS: Analisar o perfil de morbimortalidade das urgências em OAA no Brasil entre 2008 e 2019. MÉTODOS: Realizou-se estudo ecológico com dados secundários do Sistema de Informações Hospitalares/Sistema Único de Saúde, utilizando-se o código I.74 do Código Internacional de Doenças-10. Dos números absolutos, obteve-se proporções de internamentos de urgência e taxa de mortalidade intra-hospitalar (TMH) por gênero, etnia e idade. Considerou-se p < 0,05 significativo. RESULTADOS: Entre 2008 e 2019, houve 195.567 internamentos de urgência por OAA no Brasil, dos quais 111.145 (56,8%) eram homens. Mulheres tiveram maior TMH (112:1.000 hospitalizações) em comparação a homens (85:1.000 hospitalizações) (p < 0,05), assim como maior chance de morte (odds ratio [OR] = 1,36; p < 0,05). Ademais, a média de sobrevida anual foi maior entre homens do que entre mulheres (8.483/ano vs. 6.254/ano, respectivamente; p < 0,05). Estratificando por etnia, mulheres apresentaram maior chance de óbitos entre brancas (OR = 1,44; p < 0,05), pretas (OR = 1,33; p < 0,05) e pardas (razão de risco [RR] = 1,25; p < 0,05), comparadas a homens das mesmas etnias. Nas análises etárias, mulheres com mais de 50 anos apresentaram maior chance de óbito, com aumento progressivo do risco com o envelhecimento. CONCLUSÕES: Nossas análises comparativas evidenciaram tendência de pior prognóstico nas urgências em OAA associadas a mulheres, sobretudo em grupos de idade avançada. A literatura evidencia que as razões para essas diferenças ainda são pouco estudadas, estimulando investigações mais robustas sobre essa importante casuística da cirurgia vascular.