Abstract
Background Little is known about the incidence and burden of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) in Oman or the Arabian Gulf. Objectives To determine the epidemiology of CIN at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in Oman. Methods A retrospective observational study of all eligible CIN episodes in adult (>18 years) patients with solid tumors and hematological malignancies at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) from January to December 2010. Analyses were performed using univariate statistics. Results A total of 1,357 episodes in 159 patients with a mean age of 50 ± 15 years (19–91) were evaluated. Fifty-four percent (n = 86) of the patients were female. A total of 46 % (73/159) of the patients developed CIN accounting for 15 % (210/1,357) of all episodes. Twelve percent (25/210) of these CIN episodes were associated with fever in 26 % (19/73) patients. There was significant association between CIN and chemotherapy regimen (P < 0.001), younger age (P < 0.001), low hemoglobin (Hb) levels (P < 0.001) and advanced cancer stage (P = 0.006). Conclusions This study suggests a high incidence of CIN in SQUH patients which resulted in chemotherapy delays, longer hospital stays, and inpatient mortality. CIN was significantly correlated with chemotherapy regimen, younger age, low Hb levels and cancer stage.
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Acknowledgments
The findings of this research were part of the MSc project in Clinical Pharmacy for Ms. Maram Abou Saleh. The authors would like to thank Dr. Ikram Burney, Senior Consultant Oncologist, Pharmacist Sam George, Assistant Pharmacist Said Al-Rasadi and other supporting staff for their valuable contribution.
Funding
This study did not receive any funding.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest with respect to authorship and and/or publication of this article.
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Abou Saleh, M., Mafiana, R.N., Al Za’abi, M. et al. Epidemiology of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia at a tertiary university hospital in Oman. Int J Clin Pharm 35, 1036–1039 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-013-9859-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-013-9859-8