Socio-Demographic, Somatic and Disease Profile of Cancer Patients in Tertiary Care Centres of a City in Karnataka, India

Introduction: Cancer is a complex disease caused due to multiple genetic changes leading to uncontrolled proliferation of cells with metastatic ability. Various external and internal factors along with changes in lifestyle have an implication on cancer. The major objective was to study the socio-economic, functional and somatic status of cancer patients and the risk factors associated with the disease. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in three cancer hospitals of Mysuru, India between the months of September 2014 to November 2015 to recruit 152 (90 M, 62 F) histopathologically confirmed cancer patients. Pre-tested questionnaire was used to elicit data on socio-demography, disease history, anthropometry and risk factors associated with cancer. The ECOG tool was used to assess the functional status. Results: Among the subjects, men predominantly had head and neck and gastrointestinal cancers which could be due to higher substance abuse whereas, most of the women were overweight or obese with a mean BMI of 24.31±5.10 and had gender specific cancers such as breast, cervix, endometrium and ovary. The disease was diagnosed earlier in females than in males due to higher visibility of symptomatology. Men had severe muscle depletion as reflected by low MUAC values (25.73 cm ±3.70). The functional status was affected irrespective of the type of cancer or the gender. Conclusion: The study indicates that factors such as low socio-economic status, poor nutritional status, food intake and health habits prevalent among the cancer patients are associated with the stage and type of the disease at diagnosis.