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Our new paper published today in @BJGPOpen investigates how people with asthma or COPD react to a vignette describing potential lung cancer symptoms
https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgpopen20X1010861/7
Aim: We tested the ‘alternative explanation’ hypothesis: when new symptoms are attributed to pre-existing health conditions, which can lead to a delay in help-seeking. 2/7
Method: We presented this
scenario to 2143 people in an online survey and tested differences in symptom attribution and help-seeking between those with and without asthma or COPD.3/6
We found that having a chronic respiratory condition did not seem to interfere with anticipated help-seeking. This may be because of regular appointments in primary care to manage these conditions.4/7
We also found low awareness of lung cancer symptoms. Only 1/5 identified persistent cough and breathlessness as potential cancer symptoms and 44% said they would not promptly seek help from a GP. 5/7
Conclusion: More work is needed to raise awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage seeking help quickly, especially for people with chronic conditions who are more likely to have a late-stage cancer diagnosis.
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Thanks to co-authors: @Jo_WallerKCL @chrisvonwagner @SonjaKummer @Katriina01 Aishwarya Puri @GLyratzopoulos, and Cristina Renzi. Research funded by @NIHRresearch Policy Research Unit for Cancer Screening, Awareness and Early Diagnosis.
