Waiting Times in Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: A Ten-Year Experience in A Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Published Date: 29th March 2024

Publication Authors: Okeke. CJ

Introduction
Prostate cancer is still the leading male cancer and the leading cause of cancer deaths in Nigeria, and other low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Early diagnosis is essential to ensuring prompt treatment and reducing morbidity and mortality. Reducing the waiting times for diagnosis and treatment is therefore important.

Aims and Objectives
To study prostate cancer management waiting times, to serve as a baseline in improving the quality of cancer care in the Nigerian populace.

Patients and methods
This was a ten-year retrospective study of waiting times of all histologically-confirmed prostate cancer patients seen at Alex-Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Statistical analysis was done SPSS version 26. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results
A total of 189 patients presented with prostate cancer; however, 73 patients with complete data were analysed. The mean age of the patients was 71.48±8.16 years. The median duration of symptoms before presentation was 6 months. The mean total prostate-specific antigen was 82.08±54.9ng/mL. The mean duration between the first visit to the definitive diagnosis was 6.53±11.68 months with a median of 1 month. The median duration from visit to treatment was 3 months with a mean of 9.71±13.4 months. There were no associations between occupation, highest educational level, financial constraints, and the different waiting times studied (P>0.05).

Conclusion
The waiting times for prostate cancer management were unduly prolonged in this study; patient-related factors did not influence this wait.

 

Okeke, CJ; et al. (2024). Waiting Times in Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment: A Ten-Year Experience in A Nigerian Teaching Hospital. West African Journal of Medicine. 41(3), pp.317-321. [Online]. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38788158/ [Accessed 13 June 2024]

 

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