Prevalence of cancer and time to referral care in oncology patients

Cancer represents a worldwide problem. In 2022, there were 30888 new cases of cancer and 16158 deaths in Ecuador. Considering the high morbidity and mortality due to this disease, health systems are trying to meet the demand of these patients in public and private health services. Our main objective was to establish the prevalence of cancer and the time of care of oncological patients referred to the second level from the first of care during January-July 2024 at the Hospital Provincial General Docente Riobamba. An original, observational, retrospective, descriptive, and correlational study was presented. The prevalence of neoplasms is 3.11 %, and 45.09 % are malignant. The prevalence of cancer in total hospitalizations is 1.4 %, and the average waiting time for care is 35 days. There was a high prevalence of cancer in the hospital, where Internal medicine and Surgery are the services with the most hospitalizations for this pathology.