Burden of cancer in the general surgical population in the eastern region of Ghana

Elizabeth Josephine Olecki, Paddy Ssentongo, Joseph Dao, William G. Wong, Kelly A. Stahl, Richard Ofosu-Akromah, Foster Amponsah-Manu, Colette Pameijer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the surgical burden of malignant disease in the Eastern Region of Ghana. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. SETTING: Regional hospital in the eastern region of Ghana. PARTICIPANTS: Patients treated by the surgery department at Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua, Ghana.None. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome was incidence of malignancy and secondary outcome descriptive differences between patients who had a benign indication for surgery compared with those with a malignant indication for surgery. RESULTS: A total of 1943 inpatient surgical procedures were performed from 2015 to 2017 with 13.4% (261) of all procedures ultimately performed for malignancy. Of all breast procedures performed, 95.2% of procedures resulted in a malignant diagnosis. The remaining subtypes of procedures had rates ranging from <1% to 41.2% of procedures performed for malignant disease. Additionally, this study found over 13% of patients admitted to the surgical service for breast cancer ultimately did not undergo a surgical procedure. CONCLUSION: This is the first study investigating the burden of malignant disease in the Eastern Region of Ghana. We found a substantial prevalence of malignant disease in the surgical population in this region. This information can be used to aid in future medical resource planning in this region.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)e051741
JournalBMJ open
Volume12
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 29 2022

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Medicine

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Burden of cancer in the general surgical population in the eastern region of Ghana'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this