title: Young people describe their prediagnosis cancer experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Young people often report a protracted journey to diagnosis and frequently report perceived delays. This study was undertaken to increase understanding of the self-reported prediagnosis experiences in young people with a non-haematological cancer, as close as possible to the time of diagnosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Narrative interviews were conducted with 24 young people aged 16-24, 2-4 months from the diagnosis of a solid tumour. Data were analysed to identify whether prediagnosis narratives could be classified according to shared characteristics (typologies) to identify broader contextual issues concerning cancer, and cancer risk perceptions, in this age group. Case notes were also accessed to contextualize and confirm accounts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main themes, which included a group narrative concerning perspectives of delay, included the impact on an individual's everyday life by symptoms; the role that significant others in young peoples' lives played in the interpretation of symptom significance; the negotiation of entry into, and experiences of, generalist health care; entry into specialist care; and the threshold points that exemplified when events shifted and a diagnosis was eventually obtained.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The narratives reveal complex, and multidimensional explanations for delay with individual and contextual factors contributing. Insights were gained into preventable diagnostic delay; including investigations having been instigated, but not followed up. Each narrative also offered significant insights into how cancer symptoms should be considered within the context of young peoples' lives. This would help prevent signs and symptoms in this age group failing to trigger suspicion and not being treated seriously.
authors.affiliation: Children's Nursing, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust and London South Bank University, London, UK.
authors.forename: Faith
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: Susie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eden
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Glaser
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hooker
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Whelan
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kelly
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D063545:Personal Narratives as Topic; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D061665:Time-to-Treatment; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cancer; delay; diagnosis; narrative; oncology; young people