Cancer testing appointments in people with anxiety or depression
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A mixed-methods study of attendance at suspected cancer investigations in people with anxiety and/or depression: an observational cohort study and interview study to inform the design of a discrete choice instrument survey
IRAS ID
323981
Contact name
Sarah Price
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Exeter
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
Research suggests that cancer outcomes are worse in people with existing anxiety and/or depression than in those without these conditions. Contributing factors may include non-attendance at appointments for cancer diagnostic tests requested by general practitioners. This 11-month formative study is funded by NIHR SPCR. It will underpin future research to develop, validate, and use a survey instrument to understand the preferences for cancer testing in people with anxiety and/or depression.
We will quantify the problem by studying the medical records of people diagnosed with cancer, none of whom are identifiable personally. We will test if anxiety or depression is associated with attending appointments for cancer tests that family doctors arrange. We will quantify how much any difference in stage and survival between attenders and non-attenders is attributable to anxiety and/or depression.Our complementary qualitative work will explore the perspectives, needs, and priorities ("attributes") of people with anxiety and/or depression when they are invited for cancer testing. A qualitative researcher will hold one-to-one, semi-structured interviews with approximately 24 people with anxiety and/or depression recruited via the Southwest Peninsula Clinical Research Network. We will recruit from five general practices representing geographically diverse settings. The interviews will draw out the attributes that matter to people when deciding whether to attend an appointment for cancer testing. The interview Topic Guide is based on areas such as knowledge and beliefs of the risks and benefits of cancer tests, and social and environmental influences.
With our patient and public involvement partners, and in workshop activities we will bring our results together to collate a list of the most important attributes for people with anxiety and/or depression when deciding to attend cancer testing appointments. This will ensure we include meaningful questions when we develop and validate our survey instrument to use in future research.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/YH/0141
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion