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Endocrine Surgery

Delays to Low-risk Thyroid Cancer Treatment During COVID-19—Refocusing From What Has Been Lost to What May Be Learned and Gained

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To identify the key insights or developments described in this article

1 Credit CME

JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery

Published Online: October 29, 2020

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Article Information and Disclosures

Brooke Nickel, MIPH, PhD^1,2;

Anthony Glover, MBBS, PhD^3,4;

Julie A. Miller, MD^5,6

Author Affiliations

¹Wiser Healthcare, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
²Sydney Health Literacy Lab, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
³Endocrine Surgical Unit, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
⁴Endocrine Cancer Program, Cancer Theme, The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, St Vincent's Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
⁵Endocrine Surgery Unit, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
⁶Department of Surgery, Melbourne University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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Since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic in March 2020,¹ countries around the world have taken unprecedented health measures in response to the outbreak. One of the measures that has been implemented is delaying nonurgent surgical procedures, including those of patients diagnosed with low-risk thyroid cancers. Other treatments, including radioactive iodine, and follow-up appointments have also been delayed along with diagnostic procedures, such as new patient consultations and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsies.

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: Brooke Nickel, MIPH, PhD, Wiser Healthcare, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia (brooke.nickel@sydney.edu.au).

Published Online: October 29, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2020.3878

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Glover reported receiving grant support from the Cancer Institute New South Wales Early Career Fellowship 2019. No other disclosures were reported.

References

WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19. News release. March 11, 2020. Accessed March 12, 2020. https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020

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AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
1.00 credit toward the CME [and Self-Assessment requirements] of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.