Factors influencing delayed diagnosis of ovarian cancer

LIU Siyu; HONG Kai; LIU Yan; PU Xiaoli; LENG Xiaofei; HUANG Runqiang; ZHANG Chunlian

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-266X.2025.09.020

Abstract：Objective To investigate the status of delayed diagnosis in ovarian cancer(OC)patients and to analyze the key factors affecting the delayed diagnosis of this disease.Methods OC patients who received treatment at the study hospital from January 2021 to September 2023 were included.Patients were classified as having delayed diagnosis if the in-terval from the first appearance of symptoms to confirmed diagnosis was≥3 months,and thus they were divided into the de-layed diagnosis group and non-delayed diagnosis group.Data were collected from both groups,including basic information and social factors(age,place of residence,education level,family income,occupation,BMI,marital status,menstrual status,medical payment method),tumor-related factors[family history of tumor,histological type,International Federa-tion of Gynecology and Obstetrics(FIGO)stage,tumor location,tumor size,and type of initial symptom],and disease cognition(ovarian cancer symptom awareness score,ovarian cancer worry scale score,health belief,and health-seeking behavior).Univariate analysis and Logistic regression analysis were applied to screen for independent influencing factors of delayed diagnosis.Results A total of 403 OC patients were included,among whom 297 were in the non-delayed diag-nosis group and 106 in the delayed diagnosis group.There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in age,place of residence,education level,family income,family history of tumor,tumor histological type,FIGO stage,and tumor location(all P<0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that the education level[odd ratio(OR)=0.606;95%CI:0.440-0.833;P=0.002],family history of tumor(OR=0.462;95%CI:0.214-0.997;P=0.049),emotional barriers(OR=1.332;95%CI:1.081-1.642;P=0.007),and practical barriers(OR=2.964;95%CI:2.195-4.004;P<0.001)were independent risk factors for delayed diagnosis of OC.Conclusion Education level,family history of tu-mor,emotional barriers,and practical barriers are independent influencing factors of delayed diagnosis in OC patients.