ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2014
Decision making and referral from primary care for possible lung and colorectal cancer: a qualitative study of patients' experiences.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization of Decision Support Systems for Healthcare Referral Strategies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Patient understanding and acceptability of an early lung cancer diagnosis trial: a qualitative study.Trials · 2018Trial
- How do health literacy and chronic disease influence the diagnostic evaluation of patients with lung cancer symptoms?Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2025Article
- Article
- How GPs communicate the urgent suspected cancer referral pathway to patients: a qualitative study of GP-patient consultations.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- Factors affecting patient decisions to undergo testing for cancer symptoms: an exploratory qualitative study in Australian general practice.BJGP open · 2023Article
- Obstetric referral processes and the role of inter-facility communication: the district-level experience in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.Ghana medical journal · 2022Article
- Patient worry and concern associated with referral on the two-week suspected head and neck pathway.British dental journal · 2022Article
- Patient experiences of the urgent cancer referral pathway-Can the NHS do better? Semi-structured interviews with patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2020Article
- Lung cancer symptom appraisal among people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A qualitative interview study.Psycho-oncology · 2019Article
- Persistent Unilateral Sore Throat: Should It Be Included in the 2-Week Wait Referral Criteria by NICE.International journal of otolaryngology · 2019Article
- Article
- Evidence of advanced stage colorectal cancer with longer diagnostic intervals: a pooled analysis of seven primary care cohorts comprising 11 720 patients in five countries.British journal of cancer · 2017Article
- The diagnostic pathway of Parkinson's disease: a cross-sectional survey study of factors influencing patient dissatisfaction.BMC family practice · 2017Article
- Symptoms and patient factors associated with longer time to diagnosis for colorectal cancer: results from a prospective cohort study.British journal of cancer · 2016Article
- Using willingness-to-pay to establish patient preferences for cancer testing in primary care.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2016Article
- Typologies in GPs' referral practice.BMC family practice · 2016Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe challenge for GPs when assessing whether to refer a patient for cancer investigation is that many cancer symptoms are also caused by benign self-limiting illness. UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) referral guidelines emphasise that the patient should be involved in the decision-making process and be informed of the reasons for referral. Research to date, however, has not examined the extent to which these guidelines are borne out in practice.
aimTo assess the degree to which patients are involved in the decision to be referred for investigation for symptoms associated with cancer and their understanding of the referral. DESIGN AND
settingQualitative interview study of patients referred to secondary care for symptoms suspicious of lung and colorectal cancer. Patients were recruited from two regions of England using maximum variation sampling.
methodTranscribed interviews were analysed thematically.
resultsThe analysis was based on 34 patient interviews. Patients in both symptom pathways reported little involvement in the decision to be referred for investigation. This tended to be accompanied by a patient expectation for referral, however, to explain ongoing and un-resolving symptoms. It was also found that reasons for referral tended to be couched in non-specific terms rather than cancer investigation, even when the patient was on a cancer-specific pathway.
conclusionGPs should consider a more overt discussion with patients when referring them for further investigation of symptoms suspicious of cancer. This would align clinical practice with NICE guidelines and encourage more open discussion between GPs and primary care patients around cancer.
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