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


METHODS
A '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.


RESULTS
Nearly 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).


CONCLUSIONS
Levels 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.
School of Health Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK. Electronic address: k.whitaker@surrey.ac.uk.
Katriina L
KL
Whitaker
Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: k.winstanley@ucl.ac.uk.
Kelly
K
Winstanley
Centre for Health and Population Sciences, Hull York Medical School, Hull HU6 7RX, UK. Electronic address: Una.Macleod@hyms.ac.uk.
Una
U
Macleod
Unit of Social and Behavioural Sciences, King's College London Dental Institute, London SE5 9RW, UK. Electronic address: suzanne.scott@kcl.ac.uk.
Suzanne E
SE
Scott
Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: j.wardle@ucl.ac.uk.
Jane
J
Wardle
D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D063189:Symptom Assessment; D013997:Time Factors
Cancer; Delayed diagnosis; Signs and symptoms; Socioeconomic factors