Healthliteracy, A Management dilemma in Carcinoma Breast

Aim: To determine the literacy level in patients presenting with carcinoma breast and to analyze other social factors involved in patient's late presentation. Methods: We did this prospective observational study in Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, Pakistan from Jan 2018 to December 2018 over the period of 1 year duration. A total of 100 patients included in the study.After taking informed consent we included those patients who presented with lump in the breast, Peud'orange, fungating mass, metastasis and were histopathologically diagnosed, while those with benign breast disease, family history of breast disease, recurrent breast carcinoma and male with breast carcinoma were excluded. Patient'sinformation like age, level of education, maritalstatus, parity, status of breast feeding, clinical presentation, duration of symptoms and (clinical) stage were recorded on proforma. All the data was analyzed through SPSS version 16.0. Ethical Clearance was taken prior to initiation of the study. Findings were represented using tables and charts. Results: We include total 100 patients. The peak age range was 31-50 years (59%). There were 33 %(n=33) illiterate patients, 18 % (n=18) with high school education. The duration of illness was from 1 to 5 months. There were only 9% of patients came in stage I, while 91% in stage II, III and IV. There were 12% of cases who presented first time in our clinic with metastatic disease. Conclusion: Patients with low literacy are more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage of cancer, which effect the disease prognosis, morbidity and mortality.