Abstract
BackgroundPeople with lung cancer often wait for several months before presenting symptoms to health services. Some patients report seeking information online to help them appraise symptoms. No research has evaluated whether websites about lung cancer present information in an optimal manner to encourage help-seeking.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of an online, tailored, theory-based intervention in encouraging help-seeking behaviour among people with potential lung cancer symptoms.MethodsThe intervention consisted of a specialised website which provided tailored information about lung cancer and included a component to address beliefs about help-seeking, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB-component). Individuals with undiagnosed symptoms were randomised to receive information about lung cancer in a factorial design (tailored/untailored × TPB-component/no TPB-component). Pre and post viewing webpages, participants reported perceived likelihood of seeking help. Data were analysed using robust mixed factorial ANOVA.ResultsData from 253 participants (73.9% female) were analysed. No effect for the TPB-component was found (p = 0.16), nor for tailoring (p = 0.27). Self-reported likelihood of seeking help increased significantly from pre to post (p < 0.001), regardless of tailoring and TPB-components.ConclusionSelf-reported likelihood of seeking help for potential lung cancer symptoms may increase after viewing information online. This does not appear to be affected by information tailoring and components to address beliefs. However, intentions remained unchanged in the majority of the sample. This suggests further efforts are needed to improve lung cancer websites if they are to be a useful resource for those seeking advice about their symptoms.
Highlights
Lung cancer accounts for approximately 21% of all cancer deaths and 40,000 deaths per year in the UK.[1]Tumours grow rapidly and are commonly detected at a late stage with metastatic spread.[2]
The intervention consisted of a specialised website which provided tailored information about lung cancer and included a component to address beliefs about help-seeking, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB-component)
Self-reported likelihood of seeking help for potential lung cancer symptoms may increase after viewing information online
Summary
Tumours grow rapidly and are commonly detected at a late stage with metastatic spread.[2] If lung cancer can be diagnosed earlier, one-year survival rates could be improved considerably, from 15–19% at Stage IV to 81–85% at Stage I.3. The time to diagnosis is influenced by a multitude of factors, involving healthcare provider and system factors such as healthcare policies and resources, disease factors such as tumour growth rate, and patient factors such as cultural or psychological barriers to seeking help.[5,6,7] Lung cancer patients often experience symptoms for several months before presenting to primary care.[8,9] Reasons for delayed presentation to health services include lack of awareness of symptoms, attribution of symptoms to ageing or minor health conditions, masking of symptoms through co-morbid conditions and negative beliefs about help-seeking, such as fatalistic beliefs about the treatability of lung cancer.[8,10,11,12,13,14,15]. No research has evaluated whether websites about lung cancer present information in an optimal manner to encourage help-seeking
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