MAGNITUDE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DELAYED DIAGNOSIS OF BREAST CANCER IN HAWASSA UNIVERSITY COMPREHENSIVE SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL ONCOLOGY CENTER, 2024 akakobeki25@gmail.com

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MAGNITUDE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH DELAYED DIAGNOSIS OF BREAST CANCER IN HAWASSA UNIVERSITY COMPREHENSIVE SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL ONCOLOGY CENTER, 2024

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Ethiopia

Oral or Poster

Breast cancer is a complex and heterogeneous disease characterized by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the breast tissue. Advancements in diagnostic technologies have improved the accuracy and efficiency of breast cancer diagnosis. Despite the availability of screening programs and diagnostic technologies, delays in diagnosing breast cancer persist, posing significant challenges to healthcare systems and patient outcomes in developing countries.

An institutional-based cross sectional study was conducted on breast cancer patients in Hawassa University Comprehensive specialized hospital oncology center and data was collected from January 01/01/2025 to 15/01/2025. Simple random sampling technique was used to select breast cancer patients. Sampling with probability proportional to size method was used and sample size was 358. Pretested, structured, checklist was used to extract data. Data was entered by EpiData version 4.6.2 and was exported to SPSS version 25. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with delayed diagnosis of breast cancer. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals were used. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

In this study the prevalence of delayed diagnosis of breast cancer was 44.4% 95% CI (39.2-49.5). Primary education (AOR=8.4, 2.9-24.4), unemployed patients (AOR=8.3, 3.3-20.8), breast self-examination (AOR=7.1, 1.6-31.7) and uninsured patients (AOR=4.1, 1.7-10.5) were significantly associated with delayed diagnosis of breast cancer

In this study the prevalence of delayed diagnosis of breast cancer was high 44.4%. Education, employment, breast self-examination and health insurance were predictors of delayed diagnosis among breast cancer patients