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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Genitourinary Oncology
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1492302

Patients' perception on quality of care for prostate cancer at Tertiary Hospitals in Tanzania: A qualitative study

Provisionally accepted
Obadia Nyongole Obadia Nyongole *Deodatus Kakoko Deodatus Kakoko Dr. Nathanael Sirili Dr. Nathanael Sirili Gasto Frumence Gasto Frumence Daudi Simba Daudi Simba David Urassa David Urassa Bruno Fokas Sunguya Bruno Fokas Sunguya
  • Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Prostate cancer is a common cancer among men globally and its treatment affects quality of life. Poor patients' perception of prostate cancer services may lead to their late presentation for care, often with advanced stage of the disease. This may vary from one region to another.Objective: This study, therefore, aimed to explore patients' perceptions of the quality of care for prostate cancer in Tanzania.Methods: This qualitative case study was conducted in five tertiary hospitals in Tanzania in November 2023. In-depth interviews were conducted with prostate cancer patients on treatment for not less than six months. Data was collected on patients' perception of prostate cancer, quality of prostate cancer services, and quality of life among prostate cancer patients. Thematic analysis used a hybrid inductive and deductive reasoning approach through NVivo 14 software.Results: A total of 17 interviews were conducted resulting in four themes. These were: perception of prostate cancer on the causes and diagnostic methods, delays of care leading to late presentation, perception of quality of life after treatment for prostate cancer recovery versus cancer progression, and quality of service in terms of organization of service delivery for prostate cancer at tertiary hospitals in Tanzania.Quality of services for prostate cancer was well-perceived, especially, communication for psychosocial support. A good perception of the quality of service was found to influence the uptake of prostate cancer services. Prostate cancer patients have mixed perceptions about the quality of life after treatment which delays health seeking leading to late presentation.Despite efforts in awareness campaigns through different platforms, more is needed on the causes, diagnostic/screening methods for prostate cancer, timely health seeking, available treatment options for prostate cancer, and expected quality of life after treatment.

    Keywords: prostate cancer, quality of care, Treatment delays, Perception, Organization of services

    Received: 06 Sep 2024; Accepted: 19 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Nyongole, Kakoko, Sirili, Frumence, Simba, Urassa and Sunguya. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Obadia Nyongole, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.