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Modelling the impact of changes to abdominal aortic aneurysm screening and treatment services in England during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Sweeting, Michael J  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0980-8965
Armer, Morag 
Jacomelli, Jo 
Nasim, Akhtar 

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The National Health Service (NHS) abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening programme (NAAASP) in England screens 65-year-old men. The programme monitors those with an aneurysm, and early intervention for large aneurysms reduces ruptures and AAA-related mortality. AAA screening services have been disrupted following COVID-19 but it is not known how this may impact AAA-related mortality, or where efforts should be focussed as services resume. METHODS: We repurposed a previously validated discrete event simulation model to investigate the impact of COVID-19-related service disruption on key outcomes. This model was used to explore the impact of delayed invitation and reduced attendance in men invited to screening. Additionally, we investigated the impact of temporarily suspending scans, increasing the threshold for elective surgery to 7cm and increasing drop-out in the AAA cohort under surveillance, using data from NAAASP to inform the population. FINDINGS: Delaying invitation to primary screening up to two years had little impact on key outcomes whereas a 10% reduction in attendance could lead to a 2% lifetime increase in AAA-related deaths. In surveillance patients, a 1-year suspension of surveillance or increase in the elective threshold resulted in a 0.4% increase in excess AAA-related deaths (8% in those 5-5.4cm at the start). Longer suspensions or a doubling of drop-out from surveillance would have a pronounced impact on outcomes. INTERPRETATION: Efforts should be directed towards encouraging men to attend AAA screening service appointments post-COVID-19. Those with AAAs on surveillance should be prioritised as the screening programme resumes, as changes to these services beyond one year are likely to have a larger impact on surgical burden and AAA-related mortality.

Description

Keywords

Age Factors, Aged, Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal, Aortic Rupture, COVID-19, Communicable Disease Control, Computer Simulation, Cost of Illness, Elective Surgical Procedures, England, Health Policy, Humans, Male, Mass Screening, Models, Statistical, Pandemics, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, State Medicine, Time-to-Treatment, Ultrasonography

Journal Title

PLoS One

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1932-6203
1932-6203

Volume Title

16

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MR/L003120/1)
British Heart Foundation (None)
MRC (MR/T023783/1)