ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the major causes of cancer mortality in India. Late-stage diagnosis of BC is associated with poor survival. Identification of factors affecting late presentation of the disease could be an effective step to reduce BC mortality. AIMS: To study the association of sociodemographic factors with BC stage at diagnosis. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study is a retrospective analysis from the case records from a single institution. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Data for the year 2008 was collected from the hospital records. A total of 1210 cases were included for the analysis. Sociodemographic factors included were age, place of residence, religion, marital status, level of education, and occupation. Other study variables were family history, presence of comorbidity, and stage at diagnosis. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Association between sociodemographic factors by stage at diagnosis was tested using Chi-square statistics, with odds ratios (ORs) estimated through logistic regression modeling. RESULTS: In the study cohort, 46% patients had reported at early stages and 54% at advanced stages. All factors were evaluated for being predictors of disease stage at presentation using univariate and multivariate logistic regression model. Women from urban background were less likely to present with advanced stage disease (OR = 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.49-0.84) as compared to rural women. Similarly, illiterate women were also more likely to present with advanced-stage disease (OR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.16-2.09). CONCLUSIONS: This data clearly indicate that the patients of rural background and of low education status are more likely than their respective counterparts to have an advanced stage of BC diagnosis. Our results may be considered the keys to determining how stage variation may be related to patients and community characteristics and where limited resources need to be invested to ensure early diagnosis of BC.
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Cancer of the cervix is the most common genital tract malignancy in the female and is a major public health problem in the developing countries. Study of the sociodemographic and clinical profile of patients is the first step in planning control measures and treatment facilities. AIMS: The aims of the study were to determine the sociodemographic and clinical profile of cervical cancer patients and study their association with other tumor-related factors. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This is a record-based retrospective study from a single institution. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The data on sociodemographic and clinical factors of 765 cervical cancer patients visited and treated at tertiary care cancer hospital in Mumbai in 1 year period were analyzed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square test were used to assess relationship between variables. RESULTS: The median age of the cohort was 54 years and interquartile range was 16 years. Nearly 53.6% of patients were illiterate. About 88.10% of patient's had squamous cell carcinoma. Only 13% of cases had early stage disease and 77% of patient's had not taken any treatment before coming to the hospital. Of the total, about 26% patients also had concomitant comorbidities, of which hypertension was found to be the leading comorbid condition. Stage of disease was found to be significantly (P < 0.05) associated with age and educational status. CONCLUSION: This study highlights certain important baseline characteristics of cervical cancer patients. This basic information on profile of patients can help plan and optimum utilization of hospital services, especially in resource-poor countries like India.
