Factors Related to Delayed Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Cancer Among Moroccan Women in Casablanca

Purpose Breast cancer is the first most common type of cancer among women worldwide. Delay in diagnosis and treatment may lead to late-stage and poor prognosis. Measuring waiting times is a good indicator of the quality and performance of cancer care. This study aims at investigating the factors associated with delayed diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in Casablanca. Methods This is a cross-sectional study with consecutive recruitment from January to June 2018 of patients with breast cancer in the University hospital center Ibn Rochd of Casablanca and the private center Ryad of Casablanca. The target population consisted of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Women who had secondary breast cancer or refused to answer the questionnaire were excluded. The information was collected by trained Ph.D. student via a structured questionnaire based on the patients’ medical records. Ordinal logistic regressions, stratified on medical care type (public and private), were used to identify factors associated with a longer delay: Patient Delay (PD), Diagnosis Delay (DD), and Health System Delay (HSD). The p -values