PURPOSE There is limited evidence to guide incorporation of breast cancer early detection into resource-constrained health systems where mammography screening is not yet available. To inform such strategies, we sought to understand health care workers' perspectives on a breast cancer early detection initiative integrated into community, primary, and secondary levels of care in Rwanda. METHODS We conducted a qualitative study using semistructured interviews with 33 community health workers, clinicians, and administrators at health facilities participating in the Women's Cancer Early Detection Program (WCEDP), through which women received clinical breast examination if they were receiving cervical cancer screening, or had breast concerns. Through thematic analysis, we identified dynamics and patterns associated with successes and challenges of the program's breast health services. RESULTS Successes and challenges identified by participants corresponded with the community- and primary care–based steps of cancer early diagnosis identified by the WHO. Regarding step 1 (community awareness/access), participants noted increases in awareness and care-seeking. Challenges included difficulty overcoming stigma and engaging older women. Regarding step 2 (clinical evaluation), all participants described increased breast health knowledge, skills, and confidence. Integrating the WCEDP with other services was challenging because of inadequate staffing; offering WCEDP services on a designated day/week had advantages and disadvantages. Although participants appreciated WCEDP referral mechanisms, they desired more communication from referral facilities. Patients' poverty was the most consistently identified impediment to referral completion. CONCLUSION Rwandan health care workers identified real-world successes and challenges of implementing principles of early cancer diagnosis for breast cancer early detection. Future interventions should focus on engagement of older women, community awareness, patient socioeconomic support, and optimizing integration into primary care.
Purpose: Screening and early detection initiatives for breast and cervical cancer are public health priorities in sub-Saharan Africa, but sustainable strategies to monitor screening quality in rural health facilities are not well-described. We sought to empower rural primary care clinicians to monitor and improve screening quality and integrate quality improvement (QI) into routine practice through a learning collaborative in 8 health facilities participating in a breast and cervical cancer screening initiative in Burera district, Rwanda. We evaluated the model’s impact on participant knowledge/attitudes and QI projects’ success. Methods: Two-day didactic sessions in March 2022 addressed quality measurement and QI implementation. QI knowledge/attitudes were assessed before and after training using a brief written survey and compared using paired t-tests. Participants (all nurses) then identified a cancer screening problem at their health facility that could be solved using QI methods and planned projects. All health center (HC) trainees focused on increasing the proportion of eligible women screened for cervical cancer in their sectors, via educational campaigns. District hospital (DH) team members aimed to reduce missed referral visits. At subsequent meetings, teams discussed projects and next steps. Results: Three clinicians from each of 7 HCs and 2 from the DH (n=23) participated in training; 22 took pre- and post-training surveys. Baseline mean knowledge scores (66.5%,SD 11.8) improved following training (82.4%,SD 12.0,p<0.001). After training, 22(100%) reported interest in being more engaged in QI. In the 6 months following project implementation, HCs saw a 4.8-fold increase in the mean number of patients screened across 7 HCs (35.4,SD 17.1) compared to 6 months prior (7.5,SD 2.6). Efforts to reduce missed visits could not be assessed due to inability of the cancer screening electronic medical record to track patients across facilities. Conclusion: A learning collaborative model engaged rural primary care clinicians in evaluating and improving cancer screening practices. QI knowledge improved and HCs met initial project goals. Though projects focused on patient volume, future initiatives should examine other critical quality measures i.e., referral completion and time to cancer diagnosis. Improving data collection systems is essential to facilitate availability of follow-up data and patient tracking and empower clinicians to monitor care quality. Citation Format: Jean-Marie Vianney Dusengimana, Jean de Dieu Uwihaye, Amanda Fata, David Tuyisenge, Aphrodis Ndayisaba, Vestine Rugema, Marie Louise Uwineza, Lawrence N. Shulman, Cyprien Shyirambere, Lydia E. Pace. A Learning Collaborative Model to Empower Rural Rwandan Health Centers to Improve the Quality of Screening for Women’s Cancers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 11th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research; Closing the Research-to-Implementation Gap; 2023 Apr 4-6. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 1.
PURPOSE There is interest in leveraging cervical cancer (CC) screening to facilitate early breast cancer (BC) detection in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We sought to determine whether adding clinical breast exams (CBE) to CC screening led to early BC diagnoses among asymptomatic women in Rwanda's Women's Cancer Early Detection Program (WCEDP). The WCEDP provided CBE to women aged 30-49 who were receiving CC screening, as well as any individual with breast symptoms. METHODS The WCEDP was launched in three Rwandan districts (total population 1.3 million) in July 2018, August 2018 and May 2019 respectively. This analysis included patients presenting to health centers (HCs) through December 31, 2019. Follow-up data were collected through April 2021 using clinicians' weekly reports, patient navigator referral data, and the cancer hospital's electronic medical record. We determined patients' initial symptoms from HC records, patient interviews, and phone surveys. RESULTS Nine thousand seven hundred sixty-three women received CC screening and CBE together; 7,616 additional women received CBE alone. Five hundred eighty-five women were referred from HCs to a district hospital (DH) for abnormal CBE; 200 were referred from the DH to the referral hospital. Twenty-nine women were diagnosed with BC; of these 19 (66%) were 50 or older and 23 (79%) had stage III/IV disease. Median interval from HC visit to referral hospital visit was 19 days (IQR 11.0-26.0). Among the 23 women with BC for whom we could identify their reason for initial HC presentation, all had sought care for breast symptoms. The remaining six had advanced-stage disease and symptomatic tumors at diagnosis. CONCLUSION During the initial rollout of this combined BC and CC screening program, no BC was diagnosed among asymptomatic women and 2/3 women diagnosed with BC were older than the target CC screening age. Adding CBE for all women receiving CC screening in LMIC may be low-yield. Given the high proportion of late-stage diagnoses, community awareness of early BC symptoms, high-quality CBE and timely referrals are important areas of focus.
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