Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26264167›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990)2015

Low cancer suspicion following experience of a cancer 'warning sign'.

Katriina L Whitaker, Kelly Winstanley, Una Macleod, Suzanne E Scott, Jane Wardle

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Observational
  3. Socioeconomic differences in help seeking for colorectal cancer symptoms during COVID-19: a UK-wide qualitative interview study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Katriina L WhitakerSchool of Health Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK. Electronic address: k.whitaker@surrey.ac.uk.
Kelly WinstanleyHealth Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: k.winstanley@ucl.ac.uk.
Una MacleodCentre for Health and Population Sciences, Hull York Medical School, Hull HU6 7RX, UK. Electronic address: Una.Macleod@hyms.ac.uk.
Suzanne E ScottUnit of Social and Behavioural Sciences, King's College London Dental Institute, London SE5 9RW, UK. Electronic address: suzanne.scott@kcl.ac.uk.
Jane WardleHealth Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: j.wardle@ucl.ac.uk.
University College London · GBHull York Medical School · GBKing's College London · GBUniversity of Surrey · GB

Funding

Cancer Research UK 13276Cancer Research UK C33872/A13216Department of Health
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimLower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with a higher risk of late-stage cancer diagnosis. A number of explanations have been advanced for this, but one which has attracted recent attention is lower patient knowledge of cancer warning signs, leading to delay in help-seeking. However, although there is psychometric evidence of SES differences in knowledge of cancer symptoms, no studies have examined differences in 'cancer suspicion' among people who are actually experiencing a classic warning sign.

methodsA 'health survey' was mailed to 9771 adults (⩾50years, no cancer diagnosis) with a symptom list including 10 cancer 'warning signs'. Respondents were asked if they had experienced any of the symptoms in the past 3months, and if so, were asked 'what do you think caused it?' Any mention of cancer was scored as 'cancer suspicion'. SES was indexed by education.

resultsNearly half the respondents (1732/3756) had experienced a 'warning sign', but only 63/1732 (3.6%) mentioned cancer as a possible cause. Lower education was associated with lower likelihood of cancer suspicion: 2.6% of respondents with school-only education versus 7.3% with university education suspected cancer as a possible cause. In multivariable analysis, low education was the only demographic variable independently associated with lower cancer suspicion (odds ratio (OR)=0.34, confidence interval (CI): 0.20-0.59).

conclusionLevels of cancer suspicion were low overall in this community sample, and even lower in people from less educated backgrounds. This may hinder early symptomatic presentation and contribute to inequalities in stage at diagnosis.

Indexed as

Delayed DiagnosisEarly Detection of CancerSocioeconomic FactorsSymptom AssessmentAgedChi-Square DistributionEducational StatusFemaleHealth BehaviorHealth Care SurveysHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHumansMaleMiddle AgedMultivariate AnalysisNeoplasmsCancerDelayed diagnosisSigns and symptomsSocioeconomic factors

Identifiers

PMID26264167
PMCPMC4622962
OpenAlexW1117190559

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.