Abstract
Background: Gynecological malignancy is an important public health issue in the developing World and they include cancers of the ovary, cervix, body of the uterus, vulva & vagina and also gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN).Over the years, irrespective of social class, the number of gynecological cancers is increasing, with more cases at the younger age in India. Cervical malignancy is the most common among gynecological malignancies and WHO estimates that the contribution of cervical cancer to adult female death is 35%. It has been reported in earlier literature that in developing countries like India, poor knowledge about these cancers and health care seeking behavior of the patients add to the burden of this disease significantly. Objectives: 1) To study the socio-demographic profile of the study population. 2) To study the reproductive characteristics of the study population. Methodology: A hospital based descriptive study was conducted for a period of 4 months. All the women diagnosed with gynecological cancers attending the radiotherapy unit for treatment during the study period were included.The data was collected by personal interview after taking an informed consent. Study tools included a pretested semi structured questionnaire.Study variables include age, age at menarche, age at marriage, age at first child birth, parity,menstrual hygiene etc. Data was analyzed using SPSS and relevant statistical tests were applied. Results: A total of 183 gynecological cancer patients were included in the study. Majority (73.8%) were cancer cervix patients, followed by cancer of the ovary (10.9%) and cancer uterus (9.8%). The age of the study population ranged from 18-80 years with majority in the fourth decade of life and the mean age of study population was 48.22 years. The mean per capita monthly income was Rs. 1332.5. All had early marriage and the mean age at first child birth was 16.49 years; majority (67.8%) followed unhygienic menstrual practices. Conclusions: Women in 40‘s were most commonly affected and cervical malignancy has been identified as the most common gynecological malignancy.
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