Abstract
Introduction
Cervical cancer remains a significant public health concern, particularly in low- and middle-income countries such as Cambodia, where limited access to early screening and treatment exacerbates the burden. Understanding the demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics of hospitalized cervical cancer patients is essential for informing healthcare policies and improving patient outcomes. This study aims to assess the proportion of cervical cancer patients among all female cancer patients and to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of patients in terms of age, residence, source of payment, health condition of patients at the time of discharge, and length of stay in the hospital.
Methods
A descriptive study was conducted among cervical cancer patients admitted to the oncology department at Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital (KSFH) from January to December 2023. Data were collected from the existing electronic health records system of KSFH 2023. We extracted and managed the data in an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed them in Stata V15.
Results
The present study revealed that among 4,012 female cancer patients, 1,198 (29.85%) were diagnosed with cervical cancer, making it the most common cancer among hospitalized female patients. The mean age was 55.7 years (SD = 9.9). Most of the cervical cancer patients were older women, with 74.9% aged over 49 years. Close to eighty percent (78.96%) were from rural provinces, whereas the rest were from Phnom Penh, indicating limited healthcare access in rural areas. Slightly more than half of the patients (50.3%) paid out-of-pocket for care and treatment. Close to one third (29.8%) were covered by the Health Equity Fund (HEF), and 15.3% were insured under the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). At discharge, 93.2% of patients experienced improvements in their health, whereas 6.7% experienced no significant improvement. Only 0.08% of patients died during hospitalization. The average length of stay was 3.7 days (SD = 2.5), with 54.6% staying 1–3 days, 37.1% staying 4–7 days, and 8.3% staying longer than 7 days.
Conclusion
This study revealed that cervical cancer was the most common cancer among hospitalized female patients, especially among older women. This suggests disparities in healthcare affordability and highlights the need for improved healthcare access, particularly in rural areas. It also underscores the financial burden of care and treatment and suggests the need for expanded health insurance coverage, such as NSSF and HEF, for rural provinces and increased public health initiatives for the early detection and prevention of cervical cancer.