Unconditional logistic regression models were used to assess the characteristics of different groups of the NADC patients at ORCI. Compared to HIV negative patients, HIV positive patients were more likely to be older (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04); female (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.12-2.82); have advanced cancer stage (OR = 5.82, 95% CI: 1.24-27.29); have received radiotherapy (OR = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.10-5.7); have not received chemotherapy (OR = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.13-0.34); and have fewer co-morbidities (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.41-0.67) (Table 1). Though not statistically significant, HIV-positive patients were more likely to reside in Dar es Salaam (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 0.98-2.54) and have tuberculosis (OR = 2.54, 95% CI: 0.95-6.81). When stratified by year, a more than two-fold increase in HIV-positive NADC cases occurred in 2008, with most of the increase resulting from a rise in the number of HIV-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the eye cases. The population of newly diagnosed NADC cases with HIV also became older overall over the 11-year period, increasing from an average of 27 years old in 2002 (median = 36) to 42 years old in 2012 (median = 40).
To determine differences in the population of patients with a known HIV status and patients with no recorded HIV status in their medical records, these two groups were compared. Patients with a known HIV status were more likely to be female (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.08-1.87); received radiotherapy (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.06-1.90); have more co-morbidities (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.19-1.51); and have tuberculosis (OR = 8.11, 95% CI: 3.22-20.40), compared to patients with no recorded HIV status (Table 2).
Patient characteristics of the three studied NADCs are documented in Table 3 to describe differences in these groups of patients. Ano-rectal cancer patients had the oldest age at diagnosis and Hodgkin's lymphoma patients had the youngest; Hodgkin's lymphoma patients were also more likely to be male; squamous cell carcinoma of the eye patients were most likely to have a reported and positive HIV status; and Hodgkin's lymphoma patients tended to have more co-morbidities (Table 3).