ArticleMedical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making2015
"I don't know" my cancer risk: exploring deficits in cancer knowledge and information-seeking skills to explain an often-overlooked participant response.
Article in Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed.
- Examining strategies for addressing high levels of 'I don't know' responding to risk perception questions for colorectal cancer and diabetes: an experimental investigation.Psychology & health · 2021Trial
- HPV Vaccination Hesitancy Among Latina Immigrant Mothers Despite Physician Recommendation.Ethnicity & disease · 2020Trial
- A hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial to integrate precision skin cancer risk feedback in federally qualified health centers.Contemporary clinical trials · 2026Article
- How Information-Seeking Reduces Cancer Fatalism: A Comparison of the Mediating Role of Risk Perception in Young and Older Adults.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- Multi-cohort evaluation of "Don't know" responders to self-report oral health questions: Implications for etiologic research.Journal of periodontology · 2026Observational
- Contextualizing HPV vaccination intention among Haitian immigrant and migrant women through exploring cultural worldviews and affective risk perception: a qualitative study.Ethnicity & health · 2025Article
- Awareness of Alcohol and Cancer Risk and the California Proposition 65 Warning Sign Updates: A Natural Experiment.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Dismissing "Don't Know" Responses to Perceived Risk Survey Items Threatens the Validity of Theoretical and Empirical Behavior-Change Research.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2022Article
- High-risk population's knowledge of risk factors and warning symptoms and their intention toward gastric cancer screening in Southeastern China.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Perception of pharmacy students toward numeracy: An observational study from King Saud University, Riyadh Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in public health · 2022Observational
- What Drives Preventive Health Behavior During a Global Pandemic? Emotion and Worry.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2021Article
- Knowledge, Information Needs and Risk Perception about HIV and Sexually Transmitted Diseases after an Education Intervention on Italian High School and University Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Measuring Cigarette Smoking Risk Perceptions.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2020Review
- Causes and consequences of uncertainty about illness risk perceptions.Journal of health psychology · 2020Article
- Using NCI-Designated Cancer Center Catchment-Area Data to Understand an Ignored but High-Need Constituent: People Uncertain or Avoidant about Their Cancer Risk.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2019Article
- Specifying Future Behavior When Assessing Risk Perceptions: Implications for Measurement and Theory.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2019Article
- Physical activity: the relative associations with cognitive and affective risk beliefs.Psychology & health · 2019Article
- Item Development and Performance of Tobacco Product and Regulation Perception Items for the Health Information National Trends Survey.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2019Article
- Article
- Using the Short Graph Literacy Scale to Predict Precursors of Health Behavior Change.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPerceived risk is a central theoretical construct in health behavior research. Participants' "don't know" responses to perceived-risk items (DKPR) are usually excluded from analyses. Yet those who provide such responses may have unique cancer information needs.
objectiveThe hypotheses that DKPR responding may be due to cancer knowledge deficits or behavioral, skill, and attitudinal antecedents to knowledge deficits (information seeking, numeracy, and self-efficacy, respectively) were explored.
methodsData from the 2005 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS; N = 1789), a US population-based survey, and an urban, minority, primary care clinic survey (N = 590) were analyzed. Multivariable logistic regressions were conducted to examine knowledge deficit explanations for responding DKPR to colon cancer risk perception questions (adjusting for demographics and family colorectal cancer history). MEASURES: Comparative (HINTS) and absolute verbal perceived risk of colon cancer (HINTS, clinic survey), knowledge of colon cancer risks and screening, cancer/health information-seeking behavior and self-efficacy (HINTS), and numeracy (clinic survey).
resultsGreater knowledge of colon cancer prevention and screening, cancer and health information seeking, and numeracy were each associated with lower odds of providing a DKPR response. LIMITATIONS: The study was cross-sectional, which limits the ability to infer causal direction. The use of existing data sets limited our variable choices. Other plausible hypotheses may also explain DKPR responding.
conclusionsPeople who report that they don't know their colon cancer risk may have low cancer knowledge and reduced knowledge acquisition behaviors and skills. Health behavior research could benefit from including data concerning DKPR responses to risk perception questions, because individuals who respond in this way may require interventions to address potential cancer risk knowledge deficits.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.