Abstract
Background: Oesophageal cancer is among the top five cancers in Zimbabwe, and it has a high mortality rate. Identifying all possible risk factors for this disease may allow for
the development of strategies for prevention and early detection of this cancer. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to assess the association between
firewood smoke exposure and oesophageal in Zimbabwe
Methods: This was a matched case-control study of 92 pairs of cases and controls from
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals' Radiotherapy centre, a major referral hospital in Zimbabwe. Data were collected for one year from January 2021
Results: The ratio of male to female OC cases was 1.4 to 1, and the mean age for males
was 63, and that of females was 60 years. Oesophageal cancer was significantly
associated with the usage of firewood smoke as a major source of cooking energy, at
univariate analysis (OR: 2.961; 95 % CI 1.46-6.03, p=0.003) and after adjusting for
potential confounders (AOR: 4.22; 95% CI 1.22-14.59, p=0.023). The co-usage of the kitchen as a dining room was associated with oesophageal cancer on univariate analysis
(OR: 2.65; 95% CI: 1.44-4.88, p=0.002), but after controlling for confounders no association was found (ARO: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.34-2.72, p=0.935).
Oesophageal cancer was also significantly associated with a lot of consumption of sweet potatoes at univariate analysis (OR: 3.26; 95 % CI:1.67-6.55, p<0.001) and as well after
adjusting for potential confounders (AOR: 3.47; 95% CI: 1.07-11.23, p=0.0037). Other
risk factors like age, alcohol intake, smoking, HIV status and marital status were found not to be associated with oesophageal cancer.
Conclusion: there was an association between the usage of firewood for cooking and the consumption of sweet potatoes with oesophageal cancer. The other known risk
factors of Oesophageal cancer from other communities may not be responsible for
oesophageal cancers in Zimbabwe. There is therefore need for increased access to
cleaner sources of cooking energy to reduce the burden of this disease.