DELAY IN DIAGNOSIS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG CHILDREN WITH CANCER ADMITTED AT PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY WARD, UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR COMPREHENSIVE SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL, AMHARA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA 2022.

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Delay in the diagnosis of childhood cancer is one of the major challenges that contribute to decreased survival rates of children particularly in developing nations. Even if some studies have been conducted on delay in diagnosis of childhood cancer in terms of length of time but evidences are few on the prevalence of delay in diagnosis of childhood cancer. Hence diagnosis of childhood cancer as early as possible is crucial to reduce mortality on identifying associated factors. Objective: To assess delay in diagnosis and associated factors among children with cancer admitted at pediatric oncology unit, University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital, Amhara regional state, Ethiopia 2022. Method: Institutional- based retrospective cross-sectional study design was conducted from may1 to may15 at pediatric cancer treatment center. All 200 children were included in the study and Data were extracted by pre-tested and structured check-list. The data were entered using Epi DATA version 4.6 and exported to STATA version 14.0 for analysis. Results: From the total of 200 pediatric patients 44% had delayed diagnosis and the median diagnosis delay was 68 days. Rural residence (AOR = 1.96; 95%CI = 1.o8–3.58), absence of health insurance (AOR = 2.21; 95%CI=1.21–4.04), Hodgkin lymphoma (AOR=9.36; 95%CI=2.1-41.72), Retinoblastoma (AOR=4.09; 95%CI=1.29-13.02), no referral (AOR=6.3; 95%CI=2.15-18.55) and absence of comorbid disease (AOR = 2.14; 95%CI = 1.17–3.94) were significant factors associated with delay in diagnosis. Conclusion: Delayed in diagnosis of childhood cancer was relatively lower than other studies and most influenced by the child’s residency, health insurance, type of cancer and comorbid disease. Thus; every effort should be made to promote public and parental understanding of childhood cancer and promote health insurance, facilitate referral system. Key words: Cancer, Children, Delay diagnosis, Ethiopia, Gondar