Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Breast Cancer Patients, Tikur Anbessa Specialized hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2025-02-20
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
BACKGROUND -Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. The development of breast cancer is a multi-step process involving multiple cell types, and its prevention remains challenging to the world. Chemotherapy can be an integral component of the adjuvant management strategy. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) describes the damage to the peripheral nervous system incurred by a patient who has received a chemotherapeutic agent that is known to be neurotoxic. Neurotoxic side effects are the second most common acute side effect, behind hematologic toxicity. METHODS: The study will be conducted at the Department of Oncology at TASH, Addis Ababa, using a comparative cross-sectional study design. Data will be collected during the study period by face-to-face interviewing using a prepared questionnaire and physical examination from the modified total neuropathy score. The study population includes all breast cancer patients on chemotherapy at TASH during the study period. A total of 181 breast cancer will be included in the data collection & simple random sampling technique will be used to select the participants. The collected data will be analyzed using SPSS statistical software. Binary and multivariate logistic regression models will be used to examine the relationship between the explanatory variables and the outcome variable. A p- value of less than 0.05 will be considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-one female breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy were enrolled in the study. 45% of the participants' age group was between 36 -51 years. 69% of the study participants reported symptoms of CIPN at the end of chemotherapy. Although the majority of the patients, 90% with CIPN, experienced mild symptoms. In this cross-sectional study, most patients reported the onset of peripheral neuropathy (PN) symptoms beginning around the fifth chemotherapy cycle. Participants older than 35 were 5.6 times more likely to develop CIPN than those aged 35 and below. Patients with stage 3 or higher breast cancer were 3.31 times more likely to develop CIPN compared to those with lower stage cancers.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of CIPN was 69% among the study participants. Tingling sensation was the most commonly reported symptom among the participants, and the majority of the participants experienced mild symptoms of peripheral neuropathy Keywords: chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, CIPN, breast cancer patients, chemotherapy