Nancy Midiwo
Introduction & Objective: Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among both men and women each year globally. The most effective way of reducing lung cancer deaths is early diagnosis. This can be achieved through early identification and proper referral of suspected clients. A cough monitor is a lay individual trained in community sensitization, cough assessment and sputum collection for symptomatic clients to rule out pulmonary TB. Lung cancer program has shown that diagnosis of lung cancer cases has increased due to integration of cough monitors. The objective was to improve on early identification, raise high index of suspicion and proper referral for suspected lung cancer patients.
Method: Cough monitors from peripheral health facilities within our catchment areas were involved and trained in order to ensure that patients who present with cough, hemoptysis, chest pain, shortness of breath, backache, unexplained weight loss and gene x-pert negative are referred. A standard referral tool and a phone call referral log were developed and a contact person from both ends identified. Total of (24) cough monitors from (12) peripheral health facilities underwent a two day training and sensitization.
Results: Between October 2018 and February 2019, total of (95) clients have been referred for further investigations. Of the (95), (68) clients had no lung mass while (27) had lung mass. (9) were diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, of the (9) diagnosed, (7) were male and (2) female.
Conclusion: The integration of cough monitors has raised awareness of lung cancer, led to early identification of suspected lung cancer cases and proper referral systems.