Referral patterns for retinoblastoma patients in Ethiopia

BMC Health Services Research

Research

Helen Dimaras¹  Jacquelyn O’Banion²  Fran Wu²  Sadik Taju Sherief³  Tiliksew Teshome³ 

[1] Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada;Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA;Department of Ophthalmology, Menelik II Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 9086, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;

关键词: Retinoblastoma;    Lag time;    Socio economic factors;    Sub Saharan African Countries;    Public Health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-023-09137-9

 received in 2022-07-05, accepted in 2023-02-01,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIncreased lag time between the onset of symptoms and treatment of retinoblastoma (RB) is one of the factors contributing to delay in diagnosis. The aim of this study was to understand the referral patterns and lag times for RB patients who were treated at Menelik II Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.MethodA single-center, cross- sectional study was conducted in January 2018. All new patients with a confirmed RB diagnosis who had presented to Menelik II Hospital from May 2015 to May 2017 were eligible. A questionnaire developed by the research team was administered to the patient’s caregiver by phone.ResultsThirty-eight patients were included in the study and completed the phone survey. Twenty-nine patients (76.3%) delayed seeing a health care provider for ≥ 3 months from the onset of symptoms, with the most common reason being the belief that it was not a problem (96.5%), followed by 73% saying it was too expensive. The majority of patients (37/38, 97.4%) visited at least 1 additional health care facility prior to reaching a RB treatment facility. The mean overall lag time from noticing the first symptom to treatment was 14.31 (range 0.25–62.25) months.ConclusionLack of knowledge and cost are major barriers to patients first seeking care for RB symptoms. Cost and travel distance are major barriers to seeing referred providers and receiving definitive treatment. Delays in care may be alleviated by public education, early screening, and public assistance programs.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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