Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27358616›Full record

ArticleAfrican health sciences2016

Outcome of childhood malignancies at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital: a call for implementation of palliative care.

Gracia K Eke, Nwadiuto A Akani

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in African health sciences, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Gracia K EkeDepartment of Paediatrics, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
Nwadiuto A AkaniInstitute of Maternal and Child Health, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCancers in children are yet to be recognised as an important cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in developing countries where more than 70% of the world annual cases occur. Despite the limited resources and whatever the projected outcome, children with cancer need treatment, be it curative or palliative.

objectivesTo determine outcome of cancers in children at the UPTH; identify factors that influence outcome, highlight the need for palliative care.

methodA retrospective study of cases of childhood malignancies admitted into Paediatric Oncology unit of UPTH over a two year period. Clinical profile of patients and outcome were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0.

resultsSixty cases were analysed: 35(58.3%) males, 25(41.7%) females giving a M:F ratio of 1.4:1. Under-fives constituted 55%. Twenty-seven (45%) patients presented within 4 weeks of onset of symptoms. Median duration of symptoms before presentation was 8 weeks while 36 (60%) had metastatic disease at diagnosis. Twenty patients (33.3%) defaulted with or without specific treatment. Mortality was recorded in 26(43.4%) of cases.

conclusionThere were more cases of cancer amongst under-fives with male preponderance. Late presentation, financial constraints and high default rate were contributory factors to poor outcome in most cases. Lack of palliative care left many families to face their sufferings.

Indexed as

NeoplasmsAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHospitalizationHospitals, UniversityHumansInfantMaleMorbidityNigeriaPalliative CarePatient ComfortRetrospective StudiesSex Distributionchildhood malignanciesimplementationOutcomepalliative care

Identifiers

PMID27358616
PMCPMC4915401

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.