Magnitude of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma and associated factors in St. Paul’s millennium medical college, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2023

Abstract

Background: Head and neck cancers was the seventh most common cancer worldwide and continue to remain a significant public health burden worldwide, causing significant mortality and morbidity despite significant clinical advances enabling their early diagnosis and treatment. There is an increasing burden of cancer in developing economies worldwide on the contrary; there is apparent under-reporting of the magnitude of cases in many countries including ours. Even though we encountered many head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in our everyday experience, we do not exactly know the magnitude of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and the associated risk factors in our clinic, which eventually reflect to the community. Objective: To determine the magnitude of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and the associated factors among patients visited Ear Nose and Throat department of SPHMMC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2023 Methodology: Cross sectional study was conducted among 150 patients with head and neck cancer seen in Ear, Nose and Throat department of SPHMMC from October 2022 to Sept 2023. Data was collected using electronic based structured questionnaire from selected patient chart. The data was checked and cleaned by principal investigator on daily basis during data collection for completeness and consistencies then data analysis was done using SPSS 27.0 statistical software. Bivariate and multivariate regression was used to determine significant factor. Odds ratio and adjusted odds ratio with their 95% confidence interval and P value <0.05 was taken as significant. All institutional regulations pertaining to patients’ privacy and ethical consideration was strictly followed. Results: From a total of 150 patients, 65(43.3%) had head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. During multivariable logistic regression, Age (AOR=0.14, 95%CI: 0.01-0.74, p=0.026), male sex (AOR=2.1, 95%CI: 1.01-7.37, p=0.002), smoking status (AOR=14.6, 95%CI: 2.01-106.4, p=0.000), and alcohol consumption (AOR=3.1, 95%CI: 1.05-8.89, p=0.041) were the significant predictors of development of squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion: In this study 43.3% of the study participants had SCC. Therefore, to reduce this prevalence the recommendation was goes to for the community: - better to avoid all the risk of 1 SCC including cigarette and alcohol consumption. For the health office: - give community awareness about the possibility of incidence and risk of SCC and its prevention mechanisms. The government and the health sector as general should give emphasis on health education on modifiable risk factors for HNSCCs like smoking and drinking. Great emphasis for complete patient evaluation and careful complete record keeping, which will have an enormous importance for future research. Key words: Head and neck cancers, squamous cell carcinoma, risk factors