Abstract
The objective is to assess the role of socio-economic factors and health-seeking behavior in treatment delay in oral and oropharyngeal cancer in our population. This article adapts—design: prospective study and setting: tertiary care centre. We studied 153 patients with oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma who were managed in the department of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery between January 2006 and December 2007. There were 127 male patients (83%) and 26 females (17%) with ages ranging from 22 years to 70 years. Fifty-nine patients (39%) presented to us with early stage disease (i.e. stage I and II), whereas, 94 patients (61%) presented with late stage disease (i.e. stage III and IV). Of the 59 patients presenting with early stage disease, 20 were illiterate and 39 literate with 28 patients (47%) belonging to low socio-economic status and 32 patients (54%) having an access to primary health centre (PHC). Of the 94 patients presenting with late stage disease, 53 were illiterate and 41 literate with 58 patients (62%) belonging to low socio-economic status and 38 patients (40%) having an access to primary health centre. Literacy, socio-economic status, access to primary health centre and health-seeking behavior of our population has a significant association with the stage of presentation of patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Elango JK, Gangadharan P, Sumithra S, Kuriakose MA (2006) Trends of head and neck cancers in urban and rural India. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 7(1):108–112
Mehrotra R, Singh M, Gupta RK, Singh M, Kapoor AK (2005) Trends of prevalence and pathological spectrum of head and neck cancers in North India. Indian J Cancer 42(2):89–93
Yeole BB, Kurkure AP, Koyande SS (2006) Geographic variation in cancer incidence and its patterns in urban Maharashtra, 2001. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 7(3):385–390
Massano J, Regateiro FS, Januario G, Ferreira A (2006) Oral squamous cell carcinoma: review of prognostic and predictive factors. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 102(1):67–76
Yeole BB, Ramanakumar AV, Sankaranarayanan R (2003) Survival from oral cancer in Mumbai (Bombay), India. Cancer Causes Control 14(10):945–952
Kumar S, Heller RF, Pandey U, Tewari V, Bala N, Oanh KT (2001) Delay in presentation of oral cancer: a multifactor analytical study. Natl Med J India 14(1):13–17
Guneri P, Cankaya H, Yavuzer A, Guneri EA, Erison L, Ozkul D, El SN et al (2005) Primary oral cancer in a Turkish population sample: association with sociodemographic features, smoking, alcohol, diet and dentition. Oral Oncol 41(10):1005–1012
Munck K, Ali MJ, Murr AH, Goldberg AN (2005) Impact of socioeconomic status on the diagnosis to treatment interval in Waldeyer’s ring carcinoma. Laryngoscope 115(7):1283–1287
Davis GE, Bryson CL, Yueh B, McDonell MB, Micek MA, Fihn SD (2006) Treatment delay associated with alternative medicine use among veterans with head and neck cancer. Head Neck 28(10):926–931
American Joint Committee on Cancer (1988) Manual for staging of cancer. JB Lippincott, Philadelphia
Mishra D, Singh HP (2003) Kuppuswamy’s socioeconomic status scale-a revision. Indian J Pediatr 70(3):273–274
Parkin DM, Pisani P, Ferlay J (1999) Global cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin 49(1):33–64 1
Swango PA (1996) Cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx in the United States: an epidemiologic overview. J Public Health Dent 56(6):309–318
Shiboski CH, Shiboski SC, Silverman S Jr (2000) Trends in oral cancer rates in the United States, 1973–1996. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 28(4):249–256
Elwood JM, Gallagher RP (1985) Factors influencing early diagnosis of cancer of the oral cavity. Can Med Assoc J 133(7):651–656
Williams RG (1981) The early diagnosis of carcinoma of the mouth. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 63(6):423–425
Kumar S, Agarwal SP, Gupta CK (1993) Investigation of factors causing delay in the treatment of oral mucosal cancer. Indian J Oral Maxillofac Surg 8:41–47
Watkinson JC, Gaze MN, Wilson JA (2000) Tumours of the lip and oral cavity. In: Stell and Maran’s head and neck surgery, 4th edn. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, pp 275–318
Sankaranarayan R (1990) Oral cancer in India: an epidemiologic and clinical review. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 69(3):325–330
Shukla HS, Kumar S, Avasthi K, Naithani YP (1981) An investigation of delay in treatment of breast cancer. Indian J Med Res 73(5):815–818
Samet JM, Hunt WC, Lerchen ML, Goodwin JS (1988) Delay in seeking care for cancer symptoms: a population-based study of elderly New Mexicans. J Natl Cancer Inst 80(6):432–438
Ernst E, Cassileth BR (1998) The prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine in cancer: a systematic review. Cancer 83(4):777–782
Patterson RE, Neuhouser ML, Hedderson MM, Schwartz SM, Standish LJ, Bowen DJ et al (2002) Types of alternative medicine used by patients with breast, colon, or prostate cancer: predictors, motives and costs. J Altern Complement Med 8(4):477–485
Hammerlid E, Ahlner-Elmquist M, Bjordal K, Biorklund A, Evensen J, Boysen M et al (1999) A prospective multicentre study in Sweden and Norway of mental distress and psychiatric morbidity in head and neck cancer patients. Br J Cancer 80(5–6):766–774
Kugaya A, Akechi T, Okuyama T, Nakano T, Mikami I, Okamura H et al (2000) Prevalence, predictive factors and screening for psychologic distress in patients with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer. Cancer 88(12):2817–2823
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Agarwal, A.K., Sethi, A., Sareen, D. et al. Treatment Delay in Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancer in Our Population: The Role of Socio-Economic Factors and Health-Seeking Behaviour. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 63, 145–150 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-011-0134-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-011-0134-9