Social context and help seeking among patients with symptoms of cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding how and why social context affects symptom appraisal and help-seeking, among patients with symptoms indicative of lung or colorectal cancer
IRAS ID
128918
Contact name
Christina Dobson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Durham University
Research summary
The study will explore how social context affects patient's symptom appraisal and help-seeking for symptoms which may be indicative of lung or colorectal cancer. Research looking at delays in the help-seeking interval has identified particular characteristics which make an individual more at risk of delaying presentation but very little has been done to understand why such characteristics (i.e. living alone) have such an effect. By understanding how people's social contexts, roles and responsibilities affect their behaviour there is the potential to inform future interventions aimed at encouraging people to present with symptoms indicative of cancer sooner.
The study will use a questionnaire to ask patients when they first noticed particular symptoms and when they decided to consult about them, social support and social context, as well as some demographic questions. Patients who have expressed an interest in being interviewed will be purposively sampled for those who had a shorter help-seeking interval and those who had a longer help-seeking interval. Interviews will be semi-structured and will seek to understand how social context affect patient's symptom appraisal and help-seeking, as well as looking for key differences between those who present relatively quickly and those who take longer to consult their GP.
Key family members and friends who were actively involved in the patients help-seeking and symptom appraisal will also be interviewed, in order to understand in greater detail how social context affects symptomatic patient's behaviour.REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/NE/0319
Date of REC Opinion
22 Nov 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion