Abstract:
Objective: To determine the impact of surgical treatment on quality of life (QoL)
of patients with early-stage cervical cancer at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital
(MTRH), Eldoret, Kenya, and Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Nairobi, Kenya.
Methods: A cohort study conducted among 71 patients undergoing surgery for
surgically amenable cervical cancer stage. Consecutive sampling of females was used
to recruit participants. Participants were followed up for 3 months post-operatively.
Descriptive statistics was used to describe the study participants. Bivariate analysis
was used to assess the relationship between dependent and independent variables,
and p value ≤0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Results: Nearly two-thirds (63.5%) of the females had a parity of four or more,
69 (97.2%) did not have a family history of cervical cancer, and 57 (80.3%) were
negative on HIV test. Most females (47.9%) had Stage IB2 cervical cancer, followed
by those with Stage IB1, seen in 28 (39.4%) of the females enrolled. There were
statistically significant differences in pain/discomfort (p=0.028) and anxiety/
depression (p=0.028). Patients aged 20–35 years had a two-fold increased
likelihood (adjusted odds ratio: 2.44; 95% confidence interval: 1.30–3.10; p=0.011)
of reporting better QoL scores compared to older females. The lower the cervical
cancer stage (Stage IA2), the higher the likelihood for improved QoL following
surgical management of cervical Conclusion: This study reports that being aged 20–35 years old and having a lower
stage cervical cancer increased the likelihood of a good QoL outcome following
surgical management of cervical cancercancer (adjusted odds ratio: 5.69; 95% confidence
interval: 3.55–6.89; p=0.001).