Psychosocial factors associated with help-seeking for cancer symptoms in Australia and the UK: Study Protocol

Introduction: In comparison to Australia, 1-year cancer survival rates are lower in the UK. This may be partly explained by greater help-seeking and/or diagnostic delays in the UK. Research is required to investigate potential differences in help-seeking for cancer symptoms in Australia and the UK, and the psychosocial factors that might explain these differences. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate anticipated help-seeking for cancer symptoms, and test the predictive strength of psychosocial factors associated with help-seeking behavior.

Methods: This study uses a multi-methods approach. The design includes a cross-sectional survey, with follow-up in-depth interviews. Men and women aged 18 years and over will be recruited for the survey (N=1452) in South Australia and the West Midlands (major cities Coventry and Birmingham), UK. The survey measures anticipated help-seeking for cancer symptoms, as well as a range of psychosocial variables. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with a subset of participants(n=30) to gain a more comprehensive understanding of barriers to help-seeking and the influence of the healthcare system. Survey data will be analyzed using Multiple Regressions, and interview data using Thematic Analysis.

Results: It is expected that several psychosocial variables will predict anticipated help-seeking for cancer symptoms, including attitudes, masculinity, and perceived social support. Group differences are expected
according to geographical location and gender. This project is currently in data collection and the presentation will describe results.

Conclusions: Resulting evidence from the research will enable the development and implementation of broadly effective early detection interventions in cancer control.