ASO Visual Abstract: Association of COVID-19 Pandemic with Colorectal Cancer Screening: Impact of Race/Ethnicity and Social Vulnerability

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health care delivery, including cancer screening practices. This study sought to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on colorectal cancer (CRC) screening relative to social vulnerability. Using the Medicare Standard Analytic File, individuals 65 years old or older who were eligible for guideline-concordant CRC screening between 2019 and 2021 were identified. These data were merged with the Center for Disease Control Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) dataset. Changes in county-level monthly screening volumes relative to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) and easing of restrictions (March 2021) were assessed relative to SVI. Among 10,503,180 individuals continuously enrolled in Medicare with no prior diagnosis of CRC, 1,362,457 (12.97