title: Awareness of cancer symptoms and anticipated patient interval for healthcare seeking. A comparative study of Denmark and Sweden.
abstract: Background Recent epidemiologic data show that Denmark has considerably poorer survival from common cancers than Sweden. This may be related to a lower awareness of cancer symptoms and longer patient intervals in Denmark than in Sweden. The aims of this study were to: 1) compare population awareness of three possible symptoms of cancer (unexplained lump or swelling, unexplained bleeding and persistent cough or hoarseness); 2) compare anticipated patient interval when noticing any breast changes, rectal bleeding and persistent cough; and 3) examine whether potential differences were noticeable in particular age groups or at particular levels of education in a Danish and Swedish population sample. Method Data were derived from Module 2 of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership. Telephone interviews using the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer measure were conducted in 2011 among 3000 adults in Denmark and 3070 adults in Sweden. Results Danish respondents reported a higher awareness of two of three symptoms (i.e. unexplained lump or swelling and persistent cough or hoarseness) and a shorter anticipated patient interval for two of three symptoms studied (i.e. any breast changes and rectal bleeding) than Swedish respondents. Differences in symptom awareness and anticipated patient interval between these countries were most pronounced in highly educated respondents. Conclusion Somewhat paradoxically, the highest awareness of symptoms of cancer and the shortest anticipated patient intervals were found in Denmark, where cancer survival is lower than in Sweden. Thus, it appears that these differences in symptom awareness and anticipated patient interval do not help explain the cancer survival disparity between Denmark and Sweden.
authors.affiliation: a Research Centre for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care (CaP), Research Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health , Aarhus University , Denmark ;|b Section for General Medical Practice, Department of Public Health , Aarhus University , Denmark ;
authors.forename: Line
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hvidberg
authors.affiliation: c Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME), Medical Management Center , Karolinska Institutet , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lagerlund
authors.affiliation: a Research Centre for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care (CaP), Research Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health , Aarhus University , Denmark ;
authors.forename: Anette F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.affiliation: d Department of Nursing , Umeå University , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Senada
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hajdarevic
authors.affiliation: c Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME), Medical Management Center , Karolinska Institutet , Sweden ;|e Innovation Centre , Karolinska University Hospital , Sweden.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tishelman
authors.affiliation: a Research Centre for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care (CaP), Research Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health , Aarhus University , Denmark ;
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vedsted
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors