Incidence of Mortality and Associated Factors Among Colorectal Cancer Patients at Oncology Units of Northwest Ethiopia: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Colorectal Cancer Patients Who Had Follow-Up in Oncology Units of Northwest Amhara, Ethiopia, 2021

Characteristics	Categories	Frequency	Percent
Age (n=367)	<40 years	93	25.3
	40–49 years	60	16.4
	50–59 years	76	20.7
	60–69 years	86	23.4
	≥70 years	52	14.2
Sex (n=367)	Male	204	55.6
	Female	163	44.4
Residence (n=367)	Urban	198	54.0
	Rural	169	46.0
Religion (n=353)	Orthodox	290	82.2
	Muslim	56	15.9
	Others**	7	1.9
Marital status (n=341)	Married	249	73.0
	Unmarried	50	14.7
	Widowed/divorced/separated	42	12.3
Health insurance (n=367)	Yes	151	41.1
	No	216	58.9

Note: Others** = Catholic and Protestant.

Table 2 Clinico-Pathological Characteristics of Colorectal Cancer Patients Who Had Follow-Up in Oncology Units of Northwest Amhara, Ethiopia, 2021

Variables	Frequency	Percent
BMI (n=308)
Underweight	101	32.8
Normal weight	205	66.6
Over-weight	2	0.8
Carcino-embryonic antigen level (CEA) (n=364)
<5ng/mL	154	42.3
≥5ng/mL	210	57.7
Comorbid illness (n=367)
Yes	80	21.8
No	287	78.2
Anemic status (n=367)
Yes	151	41.1
No	216	58.9
Blood group (n=299)
A	118	39.5
B	48	16.0
AB	11	3.7
O	122	40.8
Tumor location (n=367)
Colon	151	41.1
Rectal	144	39.2
Colorectal	72	19.7
Stage at Diagnosis (n=367)
Stage I	12	3.3
Stage II	50	3.6
Stage III	74	20.2
Stage IV	231	62.9
Histological type (n=367)
Adenocarcinoma	306	83.4
Mucinous or signet-ring cell carcinoma	61	16.6
Histological Grading (n=367)
Well-differentiated	231	62.9
Moderately differentiated	70	19.1
Poorly differentiated	49	13.4
Undifferentiated	17	4.6
Treatment modality (n=367)
Surgery only	13	3.5
Chemotherapy only	150	40.8
Surgery and chemotherapy	192	52.3
No intervention	12	3.2
Recurrence of colorectal cancer (n=367)
Yes	190	51.8
No	177	48.2
Time to 1st health care visit (symptom duration) (n=367)
< 6 months	239	65.1
6 −12 months	72	19.6
> 12 months	56	15.3
Time to confirmed Diagnosis (n=367)
≤1 month	212	57.8
1–5 months	122	33.2
≥ 5 months	33	9.0
Diagnosis to treatment interval (n=345)
≤1 month	96	27.8
1 month–5 months	178	51.6
≥ 5 months	71	20.6

Abbreviation: BMI, body mass index.

Figure 1 Kaplan-Meier estimate of survival probability among colorectal cancer patients who were followed-up at oncology units of Northwest Amhara, Ethiopia, 2021. (n=367).

Figure 2 Kaplan-Meier survival probability of factors associated with colorectal cancer mortality of patients who were followed-up at oncology unit of Northwest Amhara hospitals, Ethiopia, 2021.

Table 3 Factors Associated with Mortality Among Colorectal Cancer Patients Who Had Follow-Up in Northwest Ethiopia, Oncologic Centers, 2021

Variables	Death	Censored	CHR (95% CI)	p-value	AHR (95% CI)	P-value
Gender
Female	33 (8.99)	130 (35.42)	1		1
Male	68 (18.53)	136 (37.06)	1.89 (1.25, 2.87)	0.003	1.60 (1.03, 2.48)*	0.035
Place of residence
Urban	39 (10.63)	136 (37.06)	1		1
Rural	62 (16.89)	130 (35.42)	1.71 (1.15, 2.55)	0.008	1.68 (1.11, 2.55)*	0.014
Comorbid illness
Yes	25 (6.81)	55 (14.99)	1		1
No	76 (20.71)	211 (57.5)	1.60 (1.01 2.54)	0.034	1.47 (0.89, 2.42)	0.124
Baseline CEA level
Not elevated (<5 ng/mL)	30 (8.29)	126 (34.81)	1		1
Elevated (≥5ng/mL)	69 (19.06)	137 (37.85)	2.15 (1.35, 3.43)	0.027	1.84 (1.02, 3.30)*	0.042
Time to seek health care
< 6 months	59 (16.08)	180 (49.05)	1		1
6–12 months	14 (3.81)	58 (15.80)	0.96 (0.53, 1.72)	0.882	1.14 (0.59, 2.15)	0.697
> 12 months	28 (7.63)	28 (7.63)	2.37 (1.50, 3.74)	0.001	1.97 (1.19, 3.25)*	0.008
First visit to diagnosis
≤1 month	56 (15.26)	156 (42.51)	1		1
1–5 months	33 (8.99)	89 (24.25)	1.15 (0.74, 1.77)	0.534	1.10 (0.69, 1.73)	0.713
≥ 5 months	12 (3.27)	21 (5.72)	2.59 (1.37, 4.90)	0.003	2.45 (1.22, 4.90)*	0.011
TNM Stage at diagnosis
Stage I/ II	11 (3.00)	51 (13.90)	1.9 (0.83, 4.35)	0.127	1.81 (0.72, 4.55)	0.09
Stage III	13 (3.54)	61 (16.62)	1		1
Stage IV	77 (20.98)	154 (41.96)	2.19 (1.19, 4.04)	0.012	1.79 (0.78, 4.09)	0.179
Chemotherapy and surgery
Yes	46 (12.53)	146 (39.78)	1		1
No	55 (14.99)	120 (32.70)	1.49 (1.0, 2.21)	0.048	1.07 (0.69, 1.66)	0.750
Histologic type
Adenocarcinoma	81 (22.07)	255 (61.31)	1		1
Mucinous or Signet-ring cell carcinoma	20 (5.45)	41 (11.17)	1.86 (1.13, 3.05)	0.015	1.22 (0.67, 2.21)	0.458
Recurrence of CRC
No	55 (14.99)	122 (33.24)	1		1
Yes	46 (12.53)	144 (39.24)	1.76 (1.18, 2.63)	0.006	1.61 (1.05, 2.47)*	0.02

Note: *Significant at P-value <0.05.

Abbreviations: CHR, crude hazard ratio; AHR, adjusted hazard ratio; CI, confidence interval.