The Incidence of Febrile Neutropenia in Neutropenic Cancer Patients Admitted to Oncology Ward of Shahid Ghazi Tabatabai Hospital in Tabriz During 2018-2020

Chemotherapy‐induced neutropenia is one of the risk factors for infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy (due to weakened immune system). Febrile neutropenia (FN) may be the sole indicator of an underlying infection in these patients. Since infection is associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients undergoing chemotherapy, the study aimed to assess the incidence of FN in neutropenic cancer patients admitted to the oncology ward.

This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study involving 52 patients (selected using census method) with signs of infection (FN) hospitalized in Ghazi Tabatabai Hospital (Tabriz University of Medical Sciences) in 2018-20. The participants consisted of 52 neutropenic cancer patients who developed FN and were admitted to the oncology ward of Ghazi Tabatabai Hospital in 2018-20. Collected data was written down in specific forms and analyzed using descriptive (frequency, percentage, and mean) and inferential statistics with SPSS v.20. Significance level was less than 0.05.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was less than 500 cells/ml in 15.38% of the patients (8 patients). Infection was the cause of FN in 69.23% of the patients (36 patients). An unknown factor was the cause of infection in 30.77% of the cases. The incidence of all types of infections (perianal abscess, sepsis, oral infection, cutaneous infection, gastrointestinal infection, pharyngitis, pneumonia, and urinary tract infection) was higher in patients undergoing chemotherapy than those not receiving  chemotherapy.

Infection is one of the main causes of FN in cancer patients admitted to the oncology ward.