Help seeking for cancer 'alarm' symptoms: a qualitative interview study of primary care patients in the UK.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Whitaker, Katriina L Macleod, Una Winstanley, Kelly Scott, Suzanne E Wardle, Jane
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	BackgroundDelay in help seeking for cancer ‘alarm’ symptoms has been identified as a contributor to delayed diagnosis.AimTo understand people’s help-seeking decision making for cancer alarm symptoms, without imposing a cancer context.Design and settingCommunity-based, qualitative interview study in the UK, using purposive sampling by sex, socioeconomic status, and prior help seeking, with framework analysis of transcripts.MethodInterviewees (n = 48) were recruited from a community-based sample (n = 1724) of adults aged ≥50 years who completed a health survey that included a list of symptoms. Cancer was not mentioned. Participants reporting any of 10 cancer alarm symptoms (n = 915) and who had consented to contact (n = 482) formed the potential pool from which people were invited to an interview focusing on their symptom experiences.ResultsReasons for help seeking included symptom persistence, social influence, awareness/fear of a link with cancer, and ‘just instinct’. Perceiving the symptom as trivial or ‘normal’ was a deterrent, as was stoicism, adopting self-management strategies, and fear of investigations. Negative attitudes to help seeking were common. Participants did not want to be seen as making a fuss, did not want to waste the doctor’s time, and were sometimes not confident that the GP could help.ConclusionDecision making about cancer alarm symptoms was complex. Recognition of cancer risk almost always motivated help seeking (more so than the fear of cancer being a deterrent), assisted by recent public-awareness campaigns. As well as symptom persistence motivating help seeking, it could also have the reverse effect. Negative attitudes to help seeking were significant deterrents.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC4325458&blobtype=pdf
ISSN	09601643
Journal	The British Journal of General Practice [Br J Gen Pract]
Volume Number	65
PubMed Central reference number	PMC4325458
Issue Number	631
PubMed reference number	25624313
e-ISSN	14785242
DOI	10.3399/bjgp15x683533
Language	English
Publisher	Royal College of General Practitioners
Publisher Date	2015-02-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an OpenAccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © British Journal of General Practice 2015
Subject Keyword	‘alarm’ symptoms awareness cancer fear general practice help-seeking
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Family Practice