Factors influencing early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on patient symptoms

Abstract

Objective To explore for early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) based on patient symptoms, investigate its related influencing factors and the population subset likely with delayed identification of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods A total of 301 NPC patients diagnosed at Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University between June and December 2017 were included in this study. In all patients, the diagnosis of NPC was confirmed by histopathology. The median patient age was 47.5 years. The duration from patient-perceived symptoms to first hospital visit was recorded Chi-square test was used to analyze the association between early detection of NPC and various potential factors. Logistic binary regression model was used for multivariate analysis. Results A total of 298 (99.0%) patients had clinical manifestations related to nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The mean duration from patient-perceived symptom to hospital visit was 4.7 months. With a mean duration of ≤ 3 months defined as threshold of early detection, chi-square test showed that the early detection rate was higher in patients aged 36-50 years compared with the remaining age groups (71% vs 53.6%, P=0.003) , in non-Chaoshan dialect speaking patients compared with Chaoshan dialect speaking patients (61.8% vs 25.0%, P=0.008) , and in patients without compared with those with family history of malignant tumors (62.1% vs 45.0%, P=0.04) . This study did not identify correlations between early detection of NPC and gender, education level, place of residence, past medical history, smoking history, drinking history, and marital status (all P>0.05) . When these 10 factors were put into the logistic binary regression model for multivariate analysis, the patient age, dialect-speaking and the family history of malignant tumors were finally reserved in the regression equation (all P<0.05) . Conclusion Early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma does not appear optimistic. The early detection rates are low in subjects aged below 35 years or over 50 years old, Chaoshan dialect-speaking population, and patients with family history of malignant tumors, rendering the need for inclusion of these subjects as the focus audience of health education. Scientific knowledge on the prevention of malignancy, NPC in particular, so far remains absent in school educations, and is expected to be enhanced with earliest availability. Key words: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Symptoms; Early detection; Influencing factors