Cross-sectional Study on Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated With Colorectal Cancer Among Patients Aged 50 Years and Below Treated at Kenyatta National Hospital, for the Period From 1st March 2023 to 31st August 2023

Abstract

Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most cause of cancer mortalities globally. While the overall rates of CRC have reduced in people aged over 50 years, this reduction has not been seen in younger people, particularly in Kenya. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with the increase of CRC among patients of the age of 50 years and below. Methods The study used a cross-sectional design using a structured questionnaire. Purposive sampling was used to select the population of all patients diagnosed and treated for CRC at the Kenyatta National Hospital Cancer Treatment Centre, between March and August 2023. Quantitative data were entered in an excel data sheet and then analysis conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 13.0 computer software programme. Analysis of categorical and continuous data was analysed using chi- square test. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis was utilised to evaluate the correlation between age and clinicopathological variables. Finally, the results were tabulated and presented as graphs and charts. All missing data were excluded from the analysis and significance set at p≥0.05 at 95% confidence interval. Study Utilization Presently, there are few studies on CRC among patients aged 50 years and below in Kenya and the current studies mainly review treatment for advanced CRC reporting on treatment outcomes in all patients. Therefore, this study helped to identify characteristic features related to the patient, age as well as tumour histology, and risk factors that predispose to CRC thus improving the quality of treatment of the patient