Access to treatment of women with breast cancer

ABSTRACT This study was aimed at characterizing the access to treatment of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the state of Piauí, Brazil. A cross-sectional analytical study was developed in two referral hospital institutions from January/2018 to June/2018. The population comprised women diagnosed with breast cancer who underwent treatment in the period from 2016 to 2017. The sample amounted to 155 participants. Sampling was proportionally stratified. The data was processed in IBM® SPSS®, and uni and bivariate statistics were calculated. It was noted that the average time for treatment was of 112.7 (± 93.6) days, varying from 12 to 550 days (≡18.3 months or 1.5 years), with 71.6 % of the women starting treatment within a period higher than 60 days following breast cancer diagnosis. Statistically significant associations were verified between the delay to start treatment and the state territory of residence (p = 0.041) and the disease stage (p = 0.037). The conclusion is that women are not having access to breast cancer treatment as recommended. Therefore, it is worth noting the need for greater organization in the network of health services, taking into account the needs of the population through timely health care.

摘要 本研究旨在刻画巴西皮奥伊州（Piauí）确诊乳腺癌女性的治疗可及性现状。本研究于2018年1月至2018年6月期间，在两家转诊医院机构开展横断面分析研究。研究人群为2016年至2017年期间接受治疗的乳腺癌确诊女性，最终纳入155名研究对象，采用比例分层抽样法进行抽样。数据采用IBM® SPSS®软件进行处理，并计算单变量与双变量统计量。研究结果显示，患者的平均治疗启动时间为112.7（±93.6）天，区间为12至550天（约合18.3个月或1.5年），其中71.6%的女性在乳腺癌确诊后超过60天才启动治疗。经检验发现，治疗启动延迟与患者居住地所属州域（p=0.041）以及疾病分期（p=0.037）存在统计学意义上的显著关联。研究结论表明，女性并未按照指南要求获得乳腺癌规范治疗。因此，亟需通过优化卫生服务网络组织架构，结合人群健康需求提供及时医疗服务，以改善当前现状。