Department of Community Medicine, Ramaiah Medical College, Bengaluru, India.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bengaluru, India.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2020 Nov 1;21(11):3301-3307. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.11.3301.
India had the burden of 97,000 new cases of cervical cancer with 60,000 deaths accounting nearly one-third of global cervical cancer deaths during the year 2018. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in India. The present study aims to estimate the time interval between self-detection of cervical cancer symptoms and seeking care and different barriers for the possible time lag in seeking care.
A cross-sectional study was undertaken from April 2017 to September 2017 in a regional cancer centre in the south of India. The centre has both a population and a hospital-based cancer registry. Cervical cancer cases (N= 210) with histological confirmation were interviewed at the hospital using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire.
The median time interval between the self-detection of cervical cancer symptoms and first contact with the general physician was 80 [IQR 45-150] days. The overall median time interval between the self-detection of symptoms to the initiation of primary treatment was 123[IQR 83-205] days. The major perceived reason for not seeking medical care was a lack of awareness in identifying cervical cancer symptoms in 183(92.9%) women.
The median time of 80 days was observed from the self-detection of cervical cancer symptoms to the first contact with a general physician. Lack of awareness of patients pertaining to cancer symptoms was the major concern in seeking cancer care.
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印度在 2018 年有 97000 例新增宫颈癌病例，6 万人死亡，占全球宫颈癌死亡人数的近三分之一。宫颈癌是印度癌症死亡的主要原因。本研究旨在估计宫颈癌症状自我检测与寻求治疗之间的时间间隔，以及寻求治疗可能存在的时间延迟的不同障碍。
这是一项 2017 年 4 月至 9 月在印度南部一个地区癌症中心进行的横断面研究。该中心既有人群癌症登记册，也有医院癌症登记册。对该中心的 210 例经组织学证实的宫颈癌病例在医院使用预先测试的半结构式问卷进行了访谈。
从自我检测到首次接触全科医生的宫颈癌症状的中位时间间隔为 80[IQR 45-150]天。从症状自我检测到开始初级治疗的总中位数时间间隔为 123[IQR 83-205]天。183 名（92.9%）妇女没有寻求医疗的主要原因是缺乏识别宫颈癌症状的意识。
从自我检测宫颈癌症状到首次接触全科医生的中位时间为 80 天。患者对癌症症状缺乏认识是寻求癌症治疗的主要关注点。
