METHODS: This prospective observational study was conducted from December 2023 to February 2024. The cases for the present study included cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed by clinical, radiological and/or histological confirmation. The patient delay was recorded in days as informed by the patients themselves, about the onset of their symptoms to time taken to seek medical attention. This was then associated with various patient and tumour related factors.
RESULTS: A total of 120 (n) patients were interviewed and these patient\'s case sheets were recruited for the present study. The median primary delay for the entire population was found to be 90 days while the median secondary delay was 11 days. The median total delay was found to be 106 days. The median total delay was higher among females and younger population though this was not statistically significant. However education showed a significant impact with literate patients presenting much earlier. Smoking and alcohol abuse did not show a significant effect on delay. Various tumour factors also did not show any statistically significant effect on delay although, patients with advanced stage and nodal secondaries presented at a much later time.
CONCLUSIONS: Both patient and tumour related factors as well as the decisions made during the first contact with health care providers influence delay before specialist consultation. Raising awareness of HNC symptoms among the general population and GPs is the way to get patients to curative treatment without long delay.
方法:这项前瞻性观察性研究于2023年12月至2024年2月进行。本研究的病例包括经临床诊断的口腔鳞状细胞癌,放射学和/或组织学确认。根据患者自己的通知,记录患者的延误天数,关于他们症状的发作到就医的时间。然后,这与各种患者和肿瘤相关因素有关。
结果:总共对120名(n)患者进行了访谈,并招募了这些患者的病例表用于本研究。发现整个人群的中位主要延迟为90天,而中位次要延迟为11天。发现总延迟的中位数为106天。女性和年轻人群的中位总延迟较高,尽管没有统计学意义。然而,教育显示出显着影响,识字的患者出现得更早。吸烟和酗酒对延迟没有显着影响。各种肿瘤因素对延迟也没有任何统计学意义的影响,尽管,晚期和淋巴结次级的患者在更晚的时间出现。
结论:与患者和肿瘤相关的因素以及与卫生保健提供者首次接触时做出的决定都会影响专家咨询前的延迟。在普通人群和全科医生中提高对HNC症状的认识是使患者获得治愈性治疗而不会拖延很长时间的方法。