Prevalence and Demographic Characteristics of Prostate Cancer Patients in Colombia: data from the National Health Registry from 2015 to 2019

Abstract

Background and Objective Prostate cancer is a multifactorial disease and is among the top five causes of death in men worldwide. The Colombian Ministry of Health has adopted the Integrated Information System on Social Protection (Sistema Integrado de Información de la Protección Social, SISPRO, by its Spanish acronym) registry to collect comprehensive information from the Colombian health system. The system provides close to universal coverage (around 95%). We aimed to establish the prevalence of prostate cancer in Colombia and to describe its demographics, based on data provided by SISPRO, openly available for scientific analysis. Methods Using the SISPRO data from 2015 through 2019, we analyzed the prevalence and demographic characteristics of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. Results We identified a total of 43,862 patients with prostate cancer in the 5-year period and estimated a prevalence of 4.54 cases per 1,000 habitants, using as denominator males over 35 years old. We calculated a prevalence of early-onset prostate cancer (i.e., 35–54 years) of 0.14 per 1,000 habitants (791 cases in 5 years). The highest prevalence was observed in patients > 80 years (33.45 per 1,000 habitants). The departments with the highest prevalence were Bogotá, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, and Boyacá, and the region with the lowest prevalence was Amazonas. Conclusion We describe the prevalence and demographics of prostate cancer in Colombia using the national healthcare system database. We observed that the prevalence has been increasing over time, and the distribution is variable according to regions, which may be related to racial or environmental causes, or access to the urologist. These factors should be addressed in further studies.

Frecuencia y distribución geográfica del uso de sacubitril/valsartán en Colombia entre los años 2019 y 2020

“…Esto implica una barrera de acceso para estas poblaciones de regiones apartadas y rurales, sin olvidar los costos del desplazamiento y las limitaciones implícitas de personas enfermas. Dada la tendencia a la centralización de los servicios de salud, también es posible que los pacientes con FC avanzada de estas regiones sean valorados y seguidos en centros especializados en ciudades más grandes, como se ha propuesto para otras enfermedades 19 . Llama la atención que en el departamento de Antioquia, pese a tener una alta prescripción absoluta, la tasa por cada 100.000 habitantes es mucho más baja de lo esperado.…”

Frequency and geographical distribution of the use of sacubitril/valsartan in Colombia between 2019 and 2020

“…This represents an access barrier for people living in remote and rural regions, keeping in mind the cost of transportation and the implicit limitations of sick people. Given the trend toward centralizing healthcare services, it is also possible that patients with advanced HF living in these areas may be assessed and followed in specialized centers in larger cities, as has been proposed for other diseases 19 . It is interesting to note that the department of Antioquia, despite having a high absolute prescription rate, has a much lower than expected rate per 100,000 inhabitants.…”

Study of the Effect of Exercises on the Quality of Life, Fatigue, Sarcopenia in Breast, and Prostate and Colorectal Cancers

“…Quality-of-life assessment depends on the progress of disease and treatment, optimistic attitudes, autonomy and rights, as well as psychosocial aspects, in addition to constant demographic and epidemiological evolution [3,4] .…”