Investigator(s)
| WHO Technical Officer |
Paban Kumar Ghimire World Health Organization, Country Office for Nepal Paban Kumar Ghimire 
|
| Principal Investigator |
Dr Deependra Singh International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization Dr Deependra Singh
|
Title(s) and abstract
| Scientific title | Delays and barriers to access diagnostic and treatment services for childhood cancer patients and their impact on quality of life in Nepal: a prospective follow up study |
| Public title | Delays in diagnosis and treatment, and quality of life of childhood cancer patients in Nepal |
| Background | The present study aims to quantify the delays in diagnosis and treatment occurring at different levels, document the barriers to access diagnostic, treatment and follow up care and assess quality of life and survival of patients diagnosed with childhood cancer at three hospitals in Nepal. The findings from our study will generate robust evidence that will be crucial to inform policy makers for developing childhood cancer prevention and control strategy, which will help to improve the delays currently existing at patient level, provider level and health system level and improve the quality of life. |
| Objectives | i. To measure time intervals in cancer pathways, from symptoms onset to the date of initial health care contact, date of final diagnosis, date of initiation of cancer directed treatment and date of treatment completion. ii. To assess the impact of parents socio-cultural and economic factors, accessibility of the clinical facilities, beliefs, perceived risk, and health care providers–related factors influence stage at diagnosis and delays in the cancer pathway. iii. To evaluate the quality of life of children with any type of cancer in all phases of their treatment. iv. To assess the impact of delays on stage at diagnosis and treatment. v. To assess compliance to treatment and follow up advice. vi. To assess the health facility’ ability, capacity, and readiness to provide childhood cancer diagnosis and treatment services in Nepal. vii. To assess the survival of the childhood cancer patients by stage at diagnosis at 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year. |
| Study Methods | Study design: A prospective follow up study. Study population: Consecutive childhood cancer patients registered at any of the three hospitals diagnosed during a period of 12 months from January 2023 to December 2023. Sample Size: About 350-400 childhood cancer cases are registered in both hospitals per year, which corresponds to around 35 cancer cases per month. We intend to recruit around 250-275 patients diagnosed in one year of the study period that will fit our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data collection: Patient’s (or parents) interview, Focus group discussion, health facility assessment. |
| Expected outcomes and use of results | The findings from the study will generate robust evidence that will be crucial to inform policy makers for developing childhood cancer prevention and control strategy, which will help to improve the delays currently existing at patient level, provider level and health system level and improve the quality of life. |
| Keywords | childhood cancer, DECAN |
Research Details
| Student research | No |
| Start Date | 01-Jul-2023 |
| End Date | 30-Jun-2026 |
| Key Implementing Institution | World Health Organization |
| Multi-country research | No |
| Nationwide research | No |
| Nepal | |
| Research Domain(s) | Non-communicable diseases & Healthy Lifestyles |
| Research field(s) | Non-communicable Disease |
| Involves human subjects | Yes |
| Data Collection | Primary and secondary data |
| Proposal reviewed by other Committee | Under Review |