Factors Associated With Delays In Diagnosis And Treatment Of Childhood Cancers At The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Ghana

ABSTRACT

Background: Childhood cancers, although rare, are the leading cause of disease-related mortality in children and adolescents in developed nations, with most African countries having the least surviving rate. The development of effective interventions to reduce delays that may occur along the pathway to cancer care, demands an understanding of their predictors. Few studies on childhood cancers have been published on the factors that influence the time it takes for patients to get a first medical diagnosis and treatment once cancer symptoms have been identified. The aim of the study was to determine the factors that affect the delay in diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancers at KATH.

Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of pediatric cancer patients at KATH was employed. The data was obtained from medical records of 198 pediatric cancer patients diagnosed between 2015 -2018 at the pediatric oncology unit. Logistic regression models were used to measure the associations between patient predictive factors and delays. P-value of 0.05 was assumed as the significant level.

Results: The proportion of male and female studied was the same (50% each). The results showed that about 70% experienced delayed diagnosis ,which was influenced by factors such as sex of caregiver (p-value=0.016), days from the onset of symptoms to reporting (p-value=0.037), days from first visit to health care facility and the final presentation at KATH (p-value=0.026), and methods of diagnosis (p