Socio-demographic risk factors of esophageal carcinoma: A case control study in a tertiary care hospital, Kabul Afghanistan

Introduction: Esophageal cancer (EC) is 7th most common cancer in world in term of incidence and 6th common cancer in term of mortality. In Afghanistan, EC is the most common cancer in males. The socio-demographic status has been known as associated factor for EC. We carried out this study to determine the associated risk factors with EC in a tertiary hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.Methodology: Unmatched case control study of socio-demographic risk factors and EC was conducted at French Medical Institute for Mother and Children (FMIC). We enrolled and analyzed 132 EC cases and 132 normal controls to find out the associated risk factors for ECResult: In current study Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) was the predominant EC type (75.8%). The mean age of the case group is 59.48 ± 9.9 years and in control group is 48.05 ± 11.02, (OR: 1.070, 95% CI, p-value \u3c0.001). Majority of the cases group are male (69.6%) (OR: 3.538, 95% CI, p-value 0.022). Participants living in rural areas have the 25-times higher risk of EC than living in urban regions. Un-educated and lower education are highly associated with the risk of EC (OR: 11.21, 95% CI, p-value: \u3c0.001) as well as, having low Socioeconomic status was also highly associated with the increased risk of EC (OR: 14.08, 95% CI, p-value: \u3c0.001). Having family history in first degree family highly associated with the risk of EC (OR: 4.581, 95% CI, p-value \u3c0.001). Although, the majority of the EC patients were unemployed (93.3%) of which 75% were farmer comparing to control which comprises 55.3% of unemployed statistically in multivariate analysis it showed no significant association with EC. In addition, living area according country zones and provinces, weight and height and ethnicity showed no significant association with EC.Conclusion: The study concluded that EC is common cancer in older age groups and, predominance in males. In addition, living in rural areas, being un-educated or having lower education, belonging to low socioeconomic status, and having positive family history in first degree relatives are associated with high risk of EC in our study