Cargando…

Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the potential delays in healthcare seeking and diagnosis of women with cervical cancer (CC) in Afghanistan. Methods: Clinical records of three hospitals in Kabul were searched for CC cases, and the women identified were interviewed by a trained phys...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Acuti Martellucci, Cecilia, Delsoz, Mohammad, Qaderi, Shohra, Madadi, Shekiba, Bhandari, Divya, Ozaki, Akihiko, Mousavi, Sayed Hamid
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9580783/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36303966
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frph.2021.783271
_version_ 1784812468502003712
author Acuti Martellucci, Cecilia
Delsoz, Mohammad
Qaderi, Shohra
Madadi, Shekiba
Bhandari, Divya
Ozaki, Akihiko
Mousavi, Sayed Hamid
author_facet Acuti Martellucci, Cecilia
Delsoz, Mohammad
Qaderi, Shohra
Madadi, Shekiba
Bhandari, Divya
Ozaki, Akihiko
Mousavi, Sayed Hamid
author_sort Acuti Martellucci, Cecilia
collection PubMed
description Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the potential delays in healthcare seeking and diagnosis of women with cervical cancer (CC) in Afghanistan. Methods: Clinical records of three hospitals in Kabul were searched for CC cases, and the women identified were interviewed by a trained physician using a semi-structured questionnaire. The main outcomes were the prevalence of potential delays over 90 days (1) from symptoms onset to healthcare seeking (patient delay), and (2) from first healthcare visit to CC diagnosis (healthcare delay). Information was also collected on: type and stage of CC, diagnostic test utilized, familiarity for CC, signs and symptoms, treatment type, and potential reasons for delaying healthcare seeking. Results: 31 women with CC were identified, however only 11 continued their treatment in the study hospitals or were reachable by telephone, and accepted the interview. The mean age was 51 ± 14 years, and only 18.2% had a previous history of seeking medical care. Patient delay was seen in 90.9% of the women (95% CI: 58.7–99.8), with a median of 304 ± 183 days. Instead, healthcare delay was found in 45.4% (95% CI: 16.7–76.6), with a median of 61 ± 152 days. The main reasons for patient delays were unawareness of the seriousness of the symptoms (70.0%) and unwillingness to consult a healthcare professional (30.0%). None of the women ever underwent cervical screening or heard of the HPV vaccination. Conclusions: Given the global effort to provide quality health care to all CC patients, Afghanistan needs interventions to reduce the delays in the diagnosis of this cancer, for instance by improving all women's awareness of gynecological signs and symptoms.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9580783
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-95807832022-10-26 Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey Acuti Martellucci, Cecilia Delsoz, Mohammad Qaderi, Shohra Madadi, Shekiba Bhandari, Divya Ozaki, Akihiko Mousavi, Sayed Hamid Front Reprod Health Reproductive Health Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the potential delays in healthcare seeking and diagnosis of women with cervical cancer (CC) in Afghanistan. Methods: Clinical records of three hospitals in Kabul were searched for CC cases, and the women identified were interviewed by a trained physician using a semi-structured questionnaire. The main outcomes were the prevalence of potential delays over 90 days (1) from symptoms onset to healthcare seeking (patient delay), and (2) from first healthcare visit to CC diagnosis (healthcare delay). Information was also collected on: type and stage of CC, diagnostic test utilized, familiarity for CC, signs and symptoms, treatment type, and potential reasons for delaying healthcare seeking. Results: 31 women with CC were identified, however only 11 continued their treatment in the study hospitals or were reachable by telephone, and accepted the interview. The mean age was 51 ± 14 years, and only 18.2% had a previous history of seeking medical care. Patient delay was seen in 90.9% of the women (95% CI: 58.7–99.8), with a median of 304 ± 183 days. Instead, healthcare delay was found in 45.4% (95% CI: 16.7–76.6), with a median of 61 ± 152 days. The main reasons for patient delays were unawareness of the seriousness of the symptoms (70.0%) and unwillingness to consult a healthcare professional (30.0%). None of the women ever underwent cervical screening or heard of the HPV vaccination. Conclusions: Given the global effort to provide quality health care to all CC patients, Afghanistan needs interventions to reduce the delays in the diagnosis of this cancer, for instance by improving all women's awareness of gynecological signs and symptoms. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-12-09 /pmc/articles/PMC9580783/ /pubmed/36303966 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frph.2021.783271 Text en Copyright © 2021 Acuti Martellucci, Delsoz, Qaderi, Madadi, Bhandari, Ozaki and Mousavi. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Reproductive Health
Acuti Martellucci, Cecilia
Delsoz, Mohammad
Qaderi, Shohra
Madadi, Shekiba
Bhandari, Divya
Ozaki, Akihiko
Mousavi, Sayed Hamid
Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey
title Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey
title_full Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey
title_fullStr Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey
title_full_unstemmed Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey
title_short Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey
title_sort delay in diagnosis of cervical cancer in afghanistan: a pilot cross-sectional survey
topic Reproductive Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9580783/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36303966
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frph.2021.783271
work_keys_str_mv AT acutimartelluccicecilia delayindiagnosisofcervicalcancerinafghanistanapilotcrosssectionalsurvey
AT delsozmohammad delayindiagnosisofcervicalcancerinafghanistanapilotcrosssectionalsurvey
AT qaderishohra delayindiagnosisofcervicalcancerinafghanistanapilotcrosssectionalsurvey
AT madadishekiba delayindiagnosisofcervicalcancerinafghanistanapilotcrosssectionalsurvey
AT bhandaridivya delayindiagnosisofcervicalcancerinafghanistanapilotcrosssectionalsurvey
AT ozakiakihiko delayindiagnosisofcervicalcancerinafghanistanapilotcrosssectionalsurvey
AT mousavisayedhamid delayindiagnosisofcervicalcancerinafghanistanapilotcrosssectionalsurvey