Determinants of Delayed Presentation of Patients with Primary Malignant Musculoskeletal Tumours

Background: Malignant musculoskeletal tumours are relatively uncommon tumours, with frequent delays in diagnosis and therapy. Understanding the factors that drive delay is critical for improving cancer patient outcomes.

The goal of this study was to identify parameters linked to a delay in the presentation of patients with primary musculoskeletal tumours.

Descriptive cross-sectional study was used in this study.

From July to December 2014, the study was done in a tertiary referral hospital.

Methodology: The study included 56 patients who had a confirmed histological diagnosis of a primary malignant musculoskeletal tumour and had given their consent.

A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data. The musculoskeletal tumour was staged using clinical findings, laboratory results, and radiographs of the lesions and chest, as well as histological results.

SPSS software version 20.0 was used to analyse the data. The findings of the univariate and bivariate analyses were presented in the form of tables, pie charts, and bar graphs.

Results: A total of 56 individuals were evaluated, with 34 (60.7%) men and 22 (39.3%) females, resulting in a male to female ratio of 1.5:1. 73.2 percent (41) of the patients were adults, while 26.8% were children (15). The participants ranged in age from 4 to 78 years old, with a mean of 32.25 years.

The average patient wait time was four months, with half of the patients (28%) seeking treatment for the first time after three months.

Males were twice as likely as females to present late (OR 2.5, P=0.010), and patients under the age of 40 were more likely to present late (OR 1.4, P=0.59). Delay in presentation was linked to a low educational level (OR 3.7, P=0.15) and a poor family income (OR 2.3, P=0.38).

Conclusion: A variety of factors influence the delayed presentation of patients with MS tumours, including sociodemographics (age, sex, education level), socioeconomic situation, and tumour knowledge, beliefs, and perception.

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