Factors responsible for delay in diagnosis & treatment of colorectal carcinoma

Objective: to study the various factors responsible for delay in the diagnosis & treatment of colorectal carcinoma. study site: department of surgery bahawal victoria hospital/ qamc bahawalpur. study design: descriptive case series study. duration: from 1st jan 2010 to 31st dec 2012. patients and methods: a study of 110 patients with various presentations but eventually diagnosed as a case of colorectal carcinoma was performed to see delaying factors. the demographic data of the patients and various factors responsible for the delayed presentation including socioeconomic status,illiteracy,misbelieves,spiritual healers,quacks,delayed referral from general practioners and inadequate assessment by consultants were analyzed statistically on spss version 16. qui squared test for percentages,annova test for age & fischer's exact test for sex,literacy and residential status was applied at multivariate analysis and a p-value < 0.05 was taken as significant. results: a delay in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer was seen in 56.2% cases. total mean delay in diagnosis was 167 + 21 days with 114 +10 days being related to the patient in seeking help. the physician related delay was 48 +19 days and the delay related to the hospital / administrative causes was 15 + 7 days. young (p value 0.015) rural patients from low socio-economic class (p value 0.007) with misbelieve were more likely to have patient related delay. conclusion: delay in seeking appropriate medical help appeared to be a psychosocial at patient level and negligence act at practitioner's level rather than a failure to proceed treatment of colorectal carcinoma at the institutions.