East of England Cancer – Behavioural Insights
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Applying behavioural insights to increase earlier cancer detection in the East of England
IRAS ID
328216
Contact name
C Johnson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
East of England Cancer Alliances
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
In recent years we have seen a stabilisation of patients diagnosed with cancer through an emergency presentation, of around 18% of all cancer diagnoses in the East of England (National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service, CancerStats 2 platform, 2023). The pandemic saw an increase in emergency presentations, with the rate now returning to pre-pandemic levels. When a patient is diagnosed through emergency routes, this is associated with higher mortality rates (McPhail et al., 2013) and later stage diagnosis more likely. Late stage cancer diagnoses lead to poorer relative survival outcomes (McPhail et al., 2015).
As such, the Cancer Alliances are keen to engage and understand patient feedback on emergency routes to diagnosis, to support future reductions in emergency presentations and improve outcomes. The aim is to find out more about why some patients do not get detected earlier for cancer in the region, and identify potential interventions to support patients to come through managed routes, when their outcomes are likely to be better.
Research questions
1. What are the main reasons that patients seek emergency care that results in a cancer diagnosis?
2. For patients who are diagnosed through emergency routes, what does their journey look like between their first symptoms appearing and receiving a cancer diagnosis?
3. What barriers may currently be preventing patients from being diagnosed earlier?
4. What opportunities might there be to enable patients to be diagnosed earlier?The population of interest is patients diagnosed with cancer via an emergency route in the East of England. The interviews will produce areas of focus for the Cancer Alliances, potentially to undertake further research and evidence-based approaches to interventions and the implementation of the East of England Cancer Strategy.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0147
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jul 2023
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion