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Browsing Protocols by Author "Chiwanda, Jonathan"

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    Burden of chronic disease comorbidities among cancer patients attending oncology services at Queen Elizabeth and Kamuzu Central hospitals in Malawi
    (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, 2020-10-16) Chiwanda, Jonathan
    Problem to be studied: This doctoral study is focusing on estimating burden of chronic diseases among cancer patients. In Malawi, cancers are increasingly contributing to high burden of diseases. There is also high burden of other chronic diseases, however, there is no available data on prevalence of specific comorbidities among cancer patients. Therefore, understanding the prevalence of chronic disease comorbidities among cancer patients will help in developing appropriate interventions for prevention, management and treatment of comorbidities with the aim of improving quality of life and survival. Type of study: The project has two study designs; cross-sectional and Randomized Control Trial (RCT) components at different phases. Broad objective/ aim: 1. Explore common chronic comorbid conditions among cancer patients at two main referral hospitals of Queen Elizabeth and Kamuzu Central. Objectives Phase one 1. To estimate prevalence of chronic disease comorbidities among cancer patients. 2. To compare prevalence of comorbidities across gender, age and urban versus rural settings among cancer patients. 3. To identify factors associated with disease comorbidities among cancer patients 4. To compare quality of life among cancer patients with chronic disease comorbidities to those without comorbidities. Phase two 5. To compare quality of life among cancer patients with chronic disease comorbidities between the intervention and control groups. 6. To estimate survival among cancer patients with comorbidities Methodology: The study has two phases. The initial phase which is formative will use a crosssectional study design to estimate the prevalence of comorbidities among cancer patients presenting at Queen Elizabeth and Kamuzu Central Hospitals. The sample size will be a minimum of one hundred and ten. This will be followed by a single-blinded randomized control trial involving delivery of SMS alerts delivery to participants. The study will have two arms namely; intervention and control. Individual participants from the intervention arm will know about their receiving of SMS alerts but they will not be given information about whether everyone is getting similar messages. The end line will measure the effectiveness of the intervention (use of SMS alerts) in terms of improving quality of life and estimate survival. Ethical Consideration: The permission to conduct the study will be sought from Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH). Ethics approval will be sought from the College of Medicine Research Ethics Committee (COMREC). Expected findings: We expect to have high burden of chronic diseases among cancer patients due to direct proportionality of high burden of cancers and other chronic diseases in Malawi. Results dissemination: All results will be disseminated through research dissemination conferences both at College of Medicine and other available international symposia. Copies of the findings will be shared with COMREC, QECH, KCH and Ministry of Health Headquarters.