Abstract
Lung cancer (LC) generally lacks unique core symptoms or signs. However, there are a multitude of bodily sensations that are often non-specific, not easily understood, and many times initially not recognized as indicative of LC by the affected person, which often leads to late diagnosis. In this international qualitative study, we inductively analyzed retrospective accounts of 61 people diagnosed with LC in Denmark, England and Sweden. Using the bodily sensations they most commonly spoke about (tiredness, breathlessness, pain, and cough), we constructed four sensation-based cases to understand the pre-diagnostic processes of reasoning and practice triggered by these key indicators of LC. We thereafter critically applied Hay’s model of sensations to symptoms transformation, examining its central concepts of duration, disability and vulnerability, to support understanding of these processes. We found that while duration and disability are clearly relevant, vulnerability is more implicitly expressed in relation to perceived threat. Tiredness, even when of long duration and causing disability, was often related to normal aging, rather than a health threat. Regardless of duration, breathlessness was disturbing and threatening enough to lead to care-seeking. Pain varied by location, duration and degree of disability, and thus also varied in degree of threat perceived. Preconceived, but unmet expectations of what LC-related cough and pain would entail could cause delays by misleading participants; if cough lasted long enough, it could trigger health care contact. Duration, disability, and sense of threat, rather than vulnerability, were found to be relevant concepts for understanding the trajectory to diagnosis for LC among these participants. The process by which an individual, their family and health care providers legitimize sensations, allowing them to be seen as potential symptoms of disease, is also an essential, but varying part of the diagnostic processes described here.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0249114 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | PloS ONE |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 29 Mar 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 29 Mar 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding: This paper presents independent research funded by organisations from 3 European countries as follows: In the UK, the study was supported by the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI), http://www.naedi.org. uk. The contributing partners include: Cancer Research UK; Department of Health, England; Economic and Social Research Council; Health and Social Care Research and Development Division, Pubic Health Agency, Northern Ireland; National Institute for Social Care and Health Research, Wales; and the Scottish Government. This funding also covered the costs associated with the comparative analysis meetings in Denmark and Sweden and funded translation of the Danish and Swedish material for publication. During the study, LL was Director of Applied Research at the Health Experiences Research Group, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, and was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Oxford (CLAHRC) at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. In Denmark, the study was supported by the Research Centre for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care funded by The Danish Cancer Society and the Novo Nordic Foundation. In Sweden, the study was supported by the Vårdal Foundation; the Strategic Research Program in Care Sciences (SFO-V), Umeå University; the Cancer Research Foundation in Northern Sweden; the Swedish Research Council and government funding of clinical research within the National Health Service in Sweden. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the NAEDI, Danish and Swedish funding partners. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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