Patient Delay to Treatment and Associated Factors Among Women with Breast Cancer at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital and St.paul Hospital Millennium Medical College Oncology Units,2021
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2021-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Unlike developed countries, there is high mortality of breast cancer cases in low and middle-income countries associated with prolonged patient delay and advanced stage presentations. This study aimed to assess patient delay to treatment and associated factors among women with breast cancer at Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital and St. Paul's hospital millennium medical college oncology units 2021. An institutional-based crosssectional study design was employed among 205 female breast cancer patients who attended oncology units from March 1 to April 1, 2021. Data was collected by using faceto-face structured interview questionnaires. The study participants were selected by the systematic random sampling method. The coded data were checked for completeness and consistency and entered into EPI-data version 4.6 then exported into statistical package for social sciences version 25 for analysis. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors associated with the outcome variables.
Results: This study showed that 126 (61.46%) patients had a delay > 3 months to get treatment, and 165 (80.4%) of them were getting treatment at an advanced stage of the disease. Age ≥ 41 years, AOR=0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.7, rural residence {AOR=2.4,95% CI (1.3-4.4)}, distance AOR=2.3,95% CI (1.3-1.9)}, first diagnosed health structure AOR=0.2, 95% CI (0.07-0.7), treatment modalities AOR=5.5, 95% CI 1.7-17.0, cancer stage, AOR=0.5, 95% CI 0.2-1.0) and appointment waiting time AOR=5.9, 95% CI (0.12.6) were main predictors for a long patient delay to treatment. Conclusion and recommendation: Delay to treatment among breast cancer patients in this study is high. Higher proportions of patients get their treatment at an advanced stage. Distance, place of residence, age, waiting time, treatment type, first diagnosed health facilities and disease stage were important predictors for a delay to treatment. The establishment of additional cancer diagnosis and treatment centers and early detection and treatment of breast cancer cases may improve patient’s problems.
Description
Keywords
Breast cancer, cancer stage, treatment, treatment-delay.