The prevalence of heamatoncology deviations among adult patients with cancer, A study at Uganda Cancer Institute

Abstract

Background Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, with over 18 million new cases and 9.6 million cancer deaths estimated to have occurred in 2018. Hematological deviations are among the most common complications associated with cancer. In Uganda, there is limited information regarding hematological deviations in cancer patients, therefore the study will investigate the prevalence of hematological deviations among adults with cancer. Methods A cross sectional retrospective study was conducted at Uganda Cancer Institute including 283 adult (18≥) patients records with various cancers during the months of January through April 2021. Social demographic (age and sex) and clinical (investigations such as the complete blood count-CBC) data was collected using medical records by the principal investigator. Data was then analyzed using SPSS version16. Participant’s records were selected by systematic random sampling where by twenty participants’ records were enrolled at a time by the researcher. The researcher then randomly chose every other file among the first twenty patients records and determined the starting point. The procedure was continued until sample size of 283 was obtained. The researcher entered the data into excel then exported to SPSS version 16 for analysis. Results Of the 283 participants 143(50.53%) were females and 140 (49.47%) were males. The median and interquartile age in the study was 50years (IQR 38 - 64). The median and interquartile ranges of blood analytes were Red Blood Cell was 4.34 (IQR 3.43 – 4.87), Hemoglobin 11.8(8.9-13.3), Platelets 265(193-352), White Blood Cells/ Leucocytes 6.24(4.32 - 9.28), Neutrophils 3.65(1.87- 5.44), Lymphocytes 1.74(1.23 -2.4). Conclusion In conclusion heamatological deviatians are frequent in cancer patients. The most frequent heamatoligical deviation was anaemia 113 (39.9%), followed by Lymphoctopenia 112 (39.57%), leucocytosis 62 (21.9%) , neutrophilia 54 (19%) , and Thrombocytosis 49 (17.3%) .