Identifying the Factors Causing Delayed Presentation of Cancer Patients to a Government Medical College of Central India

The incidence of cancer is increasing throughout the world. One of the prime aims of its management is early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. Factors causing delay to either of these goals should be identified and rectified. To identify the factors causing delayed initial diagnosis and subsequent management in patients presenting to the Oncology department. Three hundred proven cancer patients were prospectively evaluated for the pattern of presentation to the outpatient Department of Radiation Oncology of a Government Medical College (MC) in Central India. The mean age of presentation was 51.05 years (range 7 months-77 years). The number of male patients was 168 while females were 132. The duration of symptoms ranged from 20 days to 3 years. The number of patients with little/no education presented mainly in advanced stages as compared to their educated counterpart and this difference was statistically significant (p