Factors leading to the late diagnosis and poor outcomes of breast cancer in Matabeleland South and the Bulawayo Metropolitan Provinces in Zimbabwe.

Abstract

IntroductionBreast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of female cancer deaths in Africa, and in Zimbabwe, >80% present with advanced disease. A Needs Project (NP) was carried out to determine the key factors responsible for delayed diagnosis and poor BC outcomes and to investigate possible solutions in 6 rural and urban districts of Matabeleland South and Bulawayo Metropolitan Provinces.MethodsA mixed method approach was used to collect data in 2 phases. Phase 1: an exploration of key factors leading to poor BC outcomes with >50 professional stakeholders and patient representatives. Phase 2: (i) Quantitative arm; validated questionnaires recording breast cancer knowledge, demographic information and perceived barriers to care administered to women and their relatives (Group 1) and health professionals (HPs) (Group 2). (ii) Qualitative arm; 10 focus group discussions with medical specialists and interested lay representatives (Group 3). The Cochran sample size formulae technique was used to determine the quantitative sample size and data was aggregated and analysed using SPSS Version 23™. Purposive sampling for the qualitative study selected participants with an understanding of BC and the NP. Focus group discussions were recorded and a thematic analysis of the transcriptions was conducted using NVivo9™.ResultsQuantitative analysis of Group 1 data (n = 1107) confirmed that younger women (ConclusionThis study confirms that the reasons for poor BC outcomes in Zimbabwe are complex and multi-factorial. All stakeholders support better user and provider education, diagnostic service reconfiguration, targeted funding, and specialist training.