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. 2022 Oct 24;10(11):199.
doi: 10.3390/dj10110199.

Time-to-Treatment of Oral Cancer and Potentially Malignant Oral Disorders: Findings in Malaysian Public Healthcare

Sivaraj Raman  1   2 , Asrul Akmal Shafie  3 , Mannil Thomas Abraham  4 , Shim Chen Kiong  5 , Thaddius Herman Maling  6 , Senthilmani Rajendran  7 , Sok Ching Cheong  7   8
Affiliations

Time-to-Treatment of Oral Cancer and Potentially Malignant Oral Disorders: Findings in Malaysian Public Healthcare

Sivaraj Raman et al. Dent J (Basel). .

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the time-to-treatment of oral cancer and potentially malignant oral disorders (PMOD) in a Malaysian public healthcare setting while exploring its contributing factors. It consists of (1) a cross-sectional patient survey to quantify time to seek care and barriers faced, and (2) a retrospective medical record abstraction to determine treatment and management intervals. Time intervals were aggregated and analyzed by their primary contributor—patient, professional, or healthcare system. The average total time-to-treatment of the 104 patients investigated was 167 days (SD = 158). This was predominantly contributed by the patient interval of 120 days (SD = 152). In total, 67.0% of patients delayed their visit to primary healthcare centers because they assumed the lesions were not dangerous or of concern. Additionally, there was a significant difference between patients ‘facing’ and ‘not facing’ difficulties to seek care, at 157 vs. 103 days (p = 0.028). System and professional delays were comparably shorter, at 33 days (SD = 20) and 10 days (SD = 15) respectively. Both demonstrated a significant difference between oral cancer and PMOD, at 43 vs. 29 days (p < 0.001) and 5 vs. 17 days (p < 0.001). The findings reiterate the need to reform current initiatives to better promote early lesion recognition by patients and implement strategies for the elimination of their access barriers.

Keywords: access; delays; oral cancer; precancerous conditions; public hospitals; risk-taking; time-to-treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Percentage of respondents reporting difficulties in accessing initial care; (b) percentage of respondents reporting fears towards the oral examination. Patients were allowed to choose more than one related factor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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