dc.contributor.author | Otieno, E. S. | |
dc.contributor.author | Micheni, J. N. | |
dc.contributor.author | Kimende, S. K. | |
dc.contributor.author | Mutai, K. K. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2013-04-08T11:36:50Z | |
dc.date.available | 2013-04-08T11:36:50Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1991 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Comp Biochem Physiol B | en |
dc.identifier.uri | http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/15535 | |
dc.description.abstract | Objective: To determine the extent and nature of delayed presentation of patients treated for breast cancer at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). Design : Prospective cross sectional study. Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) which is a Tertiary, Teaching and Referral hospital in Nairobi, Kenya Patients and methods: All patients attending the KNH breast clinic or admitted to the 3 surgical wards for the first time with a cytologically or histologically proven diagnosis of late stage breast cancer (Manchester Classification 1940 stage III and IV) were entered into the study. The study covered a two and a half year period starting the 1st of October 2003. Results: A total of 166 patients were recruited into the study. The mean age was 47 years with a range between 17 and 88 years. Females constituted 98.8%. The female study population had an average of 4.5 children per subject with a median of 4 and a range of 0-11. A lump as the first noticed symptom was seen in 87.3% and 52.1% were pre-menopausal. Only 11 (6.62%) patients presented within 30 days of discovering their breast symptom, 34 (20.4%) presented between thirty and ninety days and the remaining 115 (73.1%) presented three months after noticing their symptom. Three reasons accounted for 67.5% of the delay. 33 (19.9%) kept away fearing that they would be told they had cancer while 39 (23.5%) presented late because their breast symptom was painless. Another 40 (24.1%) said they had earlier visited medical personnel who had reassured them that their symptoms were benign. Conclusion: Majority of patients treated for advanced breast disease presented to the health care providers at KNH more than three months after noticing their breast symptom and a sizeable number of patients are being reassured falsely that they have benign disease without the benefit of biopsy. East African Medical Journal Vol. 87 No. 4 April 2010 | en |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.publisher | . ; | en |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | Vol. 99(4):811-4; | |
dc.title | Delayed presentation of breast cancer patients | en |
dc.type | Article | en |
local.publisher | Department of Medicine. College of Health Sciences. University of Nairobi | en |