Implementation of the Publicly Funded Prenatal Screening Programme in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 affected the entire healthcare system in Poland, causing medical personnel to be relocated to other duties and limiting patients’ contacts with healthcare professionals. A large part of the planned diagnostics and treatment was delayed due to lack of equipment and personnel. Against this background, we analysed the implementation of the publicly funded prenatal screening programme (PSP) in Poland compared to the previous year. This is a cross-sectional study. We used nationwide datasets on the implementation of the prenatal testing programme over the period 2019–2020, datasets from the Statistics Poland on birth and the data on the development of the COVID-19 epidemic in Poland. In the year 2020, we observed a 12.41% decrease in woman enrolled to the programme compared to 2019. However, the decrease concerned only women under 35 years of age. With respect to the number of deliveries in the calendar year, the number of patients enrolled in the programme decreased by 3% (31% vs. 34%, p < 0.001). We also observed an increase in estriol measurements per the number of patients included in the programme, and a reduction in the number of PAPP-A tests in the first trimester, which proves an increased share of the triple test in the prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal aberrations. With respect to the number of deliveries, the number of amniocentesis procedures performed under PSP decreased by 0.19% (1.8% vs. 1.99%, p < 0.0001). In 2020, compared to the previous year, the number of patients included in the prenatal testing programme in Poland decreased. In terms of the number of births in Poland, the number of integrated screening tests also decreased, at the expense of increasing the percentage of triple tests. There were also significant reductions in the number of invasive diagnostic tests.

Assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the level of health care services in Poland - a review

“…Odnaleziono 4 badania oceniające wpływ pandemii COVID-19 na poziom realizacji świadczeń zdrowotnych dotyczących programów profilaktycznych lub badań kontrolnych [24][25][26][27]. Wszystkie te prace miały zasięg ogólnopolski.…”

“…W 2021 roku zdecydowana większość ośrodków powróciła natomiast do normalnej pracy [25]. W 2020 roku zmniejszyła się także (ogółem o 12,4%) liczba pacjentek uczestniczących w finansowanym ze środków publicznych programie badań prenatalnych [26]. Jeśli chodzi o działalność lekarzy i jednostek medycyny pracy w 2020 roku, to lekarze medycyny pracy zgłosili wykonanie o ponad 1 mln 231 tys.…”

Students of the Medical College against the background of three other faculties of the Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce

“…At that time, there were 755 mortalities/one million of population. (1) In the following year, the number of deaths increased almost 3.5 times per one million of population. By the end of 2021, more than 4 million cases were recorded in Poland.…”