ArticleJournal of dental sciences2026
Patient-related factors influencing delays in oral cancer diagnosis: Insights from Pakistan.
Article in Journal of dental sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Assessing health beliefs and patient delay among breast cancer patients in West Sumatra, Indonesia.MethodsX · 2026Article
- Refusal of Hospital-Based Oral Cancer Treatment Driven by Health Beliefs in Pakistan: A Qualitative Study.International dental journal · 2026Article
- Clinicopathological Profile, Stage Distribution, and Treatment Patterns of Oral Cancer at a National Referral Center in Indonesia.Dentistry journal · 2026Article
- Association between health beliefs and patient delay in oral cancer diagnosis in Pakistan: An exploratory factor analysis.Journal of dental sciences · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background/purpose: South Asia has a high burden of oral cancer (OC); however, delays in diagnosis remain under-researched. The study investigated delay intervals in OC diagnosis and the contributing factors in rural Pakistan, considering its unique sociocultural context. Materials and methods: This multi-center cross-sectional study employed a structured questionnaire to interview 152 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. The diagnostic intervals were determined using the Aarhus Statement. Logistic regression assessed the association between independent factors and delay types. Results: Patient delays occurred in 76.3 % of cases, mostly due to appraisal delays (65 %), while diagnostic delays appeared in 51.3 %. Median durations for patient, diagnostic, and total delays were 3, 1, and over 4 months, respectively. Appraisal delay was associated with infrequent dental visits (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 11.04, confidence interval [CI]: 2.29-81.53), advanced stage OSCC (AOR: 5.42, CI: 2.35-13.03), and rural residence (AOR: 3.99, CI: 1.75-9.35). Help-seeking delay was linked to use of home remedies (AOR: 5.74, CI: 2.35-14.46) and homeopathy (AOR: 4.72, CI: 1.90-11.91). Patient delay associated with advanced stage OSCC (AOR: 7.73, CI: 3.28-19.12) and rural residence (AOR: 3.91, CI: 1.62-9.69). Diagnostic delay was influenced by patients' lack of OC knowledge (AOR: 7.33, CI: 1.30-51.74), more than two visits before biopsy (AOR: 52.88, CI: 1.50-270.88), and initial treatment with analgesics (AOR: 13.37, CI: 3.68-60.99) or antimicrobials (AOR: 3.95, CI: 1.06-18.23). Conclusion: Delays in OC diagnosis arise from inadequate patient awareness, rural residence, traditional and complementary medicine use, and health system challenges. Improving healthcare access and public awareness are crucial.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.