ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN INDICATORS CHARACTERIZING MEDICAL CARE FOR CHILDREN WITH CANCER IN SAINT-PETERSBURG AND IN THE LENINGRAD REGION IN 2013-2017

Abstract

Background: St. Petersburg is a city of federal importance with a large number of primary patients, identified annually. Objective: analysis of the main indicators characterizing medical care for children with cancer in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. Methods: The operative reports for 2013-2017 of the Health Committee of the Government of St. Petersburg and the Health Committee of the Leningrad Region were analyzed. Results. In 2013-2017 in the Russian Federation, 18 090 primary patients were identified, 927 (5.1%) of them in the analyzed subjects: in St. Petersburg - 697 (75,2%), in the Leningrad Region - 230 (24,8%). For 5 years, the number of primary patients increased in St. Petersburg - by 36%, in the Leningrad Region - by 2,5%. The incidence increased in St. Petersburg by 18,1% (from 14,9 in 2013 to 17,6 in 2017 per 100 000 of children aged 0-17). The incidence in the Leningrad Region fell by 4.9% (from 14.4 in 2013 to 13.7 in 2017). Mortality in 2016-2017 in St. Petersburg increased by 50% (from 2 to 3), in the Leningrad Region - by 12,5% (from 2,4 to 2,7). The one-year mortality rate in St. Petersburg increased by 3,9% (from 2,5 to 6,4%). In the Leningrad Region, the one-year mortality rate decreased from 6,5% in 2016 to 0 in 2017. The number of pediatric oncological beds did not change in St. Petersburg (0,9 per 10,000 children aged 0-17 years) and the Leningrad Region (0). In St. Petersburg patients were not identified actively in 2016-2017; in the Leningrad Region their percentage decreased from 8,7 to 0. The number of oncologists increased in St. Petersburg from 0,09 to 0.12 (+33,3%), in the Leningrad Region - from 0 to 0,03. Conclusion: Morbidity in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region is significantly different, which indicates obvious defects in statistical data. Patients were not identified during routine preventive examinations which indicate a low oncologic alertness of district pediatric physicians. Delivery of medical care for children with cancer and the statistical data accumulation procedures should be improved.