Experience of Health Changes and Reasons for Delay in Seeking Care : A UK Study of the Months Prior to the Diagnosis of Lung Cancer  

Oleh:

Corner, Jessica ; Hopkinson, Jane ; Roffe, Liz

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Social Science & Medicine (www.elsevier.com/locate/sosscimed) vol. 62 no. 6 (Mar. 2006), page 1381-1391.
Topik: lung cancer; UK; lung cancer; delay in diagnosis; lay experiences; help seeking

Ketersediaan

Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: SS53.2 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

Lihat Detail Induk

Isi artikel

The problem of delay in diagnosing cancer as a result of late presentation by individuals who have symptoms, or through doctor or hospital system failuires, are currently the subject to close attention as part of broader initiatives to reduce deaths from cancer. However in lung cancer there has been a generally held view that late diagnosis is inevitable because of the biomedical difficulties in detecting the disease at an early stage. Data about events recalled prior to diagnosis from an interview study with 22 individuals recently diagnosed with operable (early stage) and inoperable (late stage) lung cancer are reported. Findings reveal that individuals, regardless of their diseases stage, or their social background failed to recognise symptoms that they experienced over many months prior to their eventual diagnosis as serious and warranting medical attention. Symptoms, even when severe, were instead attributed to everday causes and were not interpreted as indicative of ill health. There was a reluctance to seek help for symptoms among some because they were unsure whether what they were experiencing was normal or not, and in one case because as a smoker, the individual felt unworthy of medical care. This study suggests that previous assumptions that focus on individual or psychological factors in the processes of delay in cancer diagnosis need revisiting and the broader social influences that may affect the timing of diagnosis among people with lung cancer should be considered.

Opini Anda

Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini!

Kembali