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Volume 2 Issue 4 (October- December, 2014)

Original Articles

REASONS FOR DIAGNOSTIC DELAY AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS IN ADVANCED ORAL CANCER PATIENTS
Anusha Chintala, Sidramesh Muttagi, Chetan Agarwal

Background: Oral cancer is the major cause of cancer related death in India due to high exposure to the known risk-factors. In view of majority of patients presenting to cancer centers for treatment in advanced stage this study was planned to determine various causes for delayed diagnosis and relationship of this delay with socio-economic factors. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 100 stageIII/stageIV oral cancer patients treated between January 1, 2011–August 31, 2012. The study details were collected using a self-designed validated interviewer administered questionnaire. Results: More than 50% of the primary care clinicians could not identify the cancerous lesions and gave false guidance to the patients. This is a cause for the delay and is considered as the ‘secondary delay’ and the maximum range of this delay is 240 days. The range for diagnostic and treatment delay was 300 days, and these come under ‘professional delay’. A statistical significant association (p<0.05) was found when the Socio-economic status was compared with total time delay from first symptom to treatment. Conclusion: Based on the findings of our study  we would like to recommend development of preventive programs that focus on raising public awareness of the signs and symptoms of oral cancer that are essential for promoting earlier diagnosis and treatment in India. It is also the responsibility of the health care professionals to ensure that cancerous lesions are detected at the earliest and treated promptly. All together this will lead to earlier presentations faster diagnosis and better treatment outcomes for oral cancer.
Key words: Diagnostic delay; oral cancer; socioeconomic status

 
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