Open AccessREASONS FOR DELAYED PRESENTATION IN ADVANCED BREAST CANCER PATIENTS AND HOW TO AVOID THIS: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF NORTHERN INDIA
Author(s) -
Shabir Ahmad Mir,
Suhail Farooq,
Azher Mushtaq,
Mumtazdin Wani
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of medical and biomedical studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2589-8698
pISSN - 2589-868X
DOI - 10.32553/ijmbs.v3i3.138
Subject(s) - shyness , medicine , breast cancer , presentation (obstetrics) , disease , prospective cohort study , health care , family medicine , tertiary care , cancer , pediatrics , surgery , psychiatry , anxiety , economics , economic growth
Background: Delay in presentation of breast cancer is usually detrimental to patient survival. Women with breast from rural areas of developing countries usually present late because of shyness and unawareness about the grave nature of disease. Under this background present study was carried out. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted over a period of 4 years in the Department of Surgery in SMHS (Shri Maharaja Hari Singh) hospital at Government Medical College Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, from January 2013 to January 2017. A total of 31 patients of advanced breast cancer with delayed presentation were studied during this period.
Objective: Our aim wasto look for the reasons of delayed presentation of breast carcinoma and highlight the need for measures to be taken in this regard.
Results: The age of the patients ranged from 33 years to 77 years. The mean age was 61.9 years. The average age in the elder group (>50 years) was 68 years. Most of the patients were of >50 years age. They were uneducated, unaware about the lethal nature of disease, and were shy in exposing their breasts to health care persons. Most (83%) of them were from rural areas.
Conclusion: Since majority of our patients were illiterate, unaware about the lethal nature of disease and were shy to expose their diseased breasts to health care personal, hence need of the hour is to create awareness about the nature of disease, its symptomatology, self-breast examination, and the risks conducting associated with delay in seeking medical advice after first noticing the disease.
Key words: Delayed presentation, advanced, breast cancer, illiterate.