The delay, symptoms, and survival of Ivorian adolescent girls and young adults with uterine cervical cancer

Objective To generate data on the nature and duration of cervical cancer symptoms, risk factors for delayed consultation, and diagnosis of adolescent and young adult groups in Côte d'Ivoire. Methods This is a hospital-based cross-sectional study, conducted from July 2012 to May 2018, at the Department of Gynecology of the Yopougon teaching hospital in Cote d’Ivoire. The inclusion criteria were those who were under 40 years of age at the time of diagnosis with oral and written consent. Those whose information was more than 10% insufficient for the standards were excluded from the study. The survey files standardized anonymous pre-established data collected using medical records followed by phone calls. Results The average age of the participants was 34±4.95 years with a minimum of 21 years. The mean parity per woman was 3.49 ± 3.54. 34.9% were HIV positive. The median patient delay was 122 days with a long delay in 84.62% of patients. The median time to total diagnosis was 209 days with a longer total delay in diagnosis of 87.18%. 41% of patients honored their treatment, 68.75% of which had received surgery, and 31.25% of which had received chemotherapy. The 5-year survival rate was 65%. Conclusion The Ivorian health system must focus on primary and secondary prevention, the only guarantee to decrease the morbidity and mortality indicators linked to cervical cancer.