Background During the second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic Austria suffered one of the highest severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) rates worldwide. We report performance parameters of a SARS-CoV‑2 screening program established for cancer outpatients at our center. Methods Institutional policy recommended routine biweekly SARS-CoV‑2 testing. Adherence to the testing recommendation during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic between 1 October and 30 November 2020 was analyzed. The SARS-CoV‑2 infection rate during first wave period (21 March to 4 May 2020) was compared to the one during second wave. Results A total of 1577 cancer patients were seen at our outpatient clinic during the second wave. In 1079/1577 (68.4%) patients, at least 1 SARS-CoV2 test was performed. Overall 2833 tests were performed, 23/1577 (1.5%, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.0–2.2%) patients were tested positive for SARS-CoV‑2, which indicates a significant increase compared to the first wave (4/1016; 0.4%, 95% CI 0.1–1.0%) with an odds ratio of 3.9 (95% CI 1.5–10.1; p < 0.005). Patients undergoing active anticancer treatment (172/960; 17.9% not tested) were more likely to have undergone a SARS-CoV‑2 test than patients in follow-up or best supportive care (326/617; 52.8% not tested p < 0.001). Furthermore, patients with only 1 visit within 4 weeks were more likely to not have undergone a SARS-CoV‑2 test (386/598; 64.5%) compared to patients with 2 or more visits (112/979; 11.4%; p < 0.001). The projected number of patients with undetected SARS-CoV‑2 infection during the study period was 5. Conclusion We identified clinical patient parameters influencing SARS-CoV‑2 testing coverage in cancer outpatients. Our data can provide information on generation of standard operating procedures and resource allocation during subsequent infection waves.
【저자키워드】 asymptomatic infection, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Safety measure, Cancer patient care, Testing strategy, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Treatment, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, SARS-CoV2, pandemic, adherence, COVID-19 pandemic, Cancer, Infection, Coverage, Patient, second wave, outpatients, Follow-up, respiratory, information, resource, First wave, patients, SARS-CoV‑2, Outpatient, supportive care, Odds ratio, cancer patient, best, screening program, outpatient clinic, acute respiratory syndrome, 95% CI, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, 95% confidence interval, study period, anticancer, positive, parameter, SARS-CoV‑2 infection, Result, highest, tested, analyzed, performed, subsequent, was performed, indicate, suffered, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Cancer, Outpatient, oncology,