Coping With Prediagnosis Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer: A Study of 244 Individuals With Recent Diagnosis.
Heather L Rogers, Laura A Siminoff, Daniel R Longo and 1 others
PMID 27044057WHAT IT FOUND
Most newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients waited to see if symptoms resolved, self-treated, or explained symptoms away.
Using several coping strategies and denying symptoms were linked with longer time to seek care and diagnosis.
Key findings
01In the analysed sample of 244 Caucasian and African American patients, 60% initially waited to see if symptoms resolved, 59% used self-treatments, and 49% rationalized or explained symptoms away.
02Median appraisal delay was 2.3 months and median total diagnostic delay was 5.5 months; using more symptom-specific coping strategies and avoidance/denial were associated with longer delays.
03Men were more likely than women to use wait-and-see (71% vs 49%), and African American patients and Medicaid recipients were more likely to self-treat with lifestyle changes than Caucasian or privately insured patients.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The interviews happened after diagnosis, so patients' reports of coping may have been shaped by knowing they had cancer and by treatment. Many participants used more than one coping strategy, but the study did not clearly document the order or timing of those strategies. The analysis excluded 8 other-race participants, so findings are mainly about Caucasian and African American patients. The study excluded people diagnosed through screening, so it does not describe symptom coping in that group. Some demographic differences in coping may be due to factors the study did not measure, such as chronic conditions or ease of access to care.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists NIH extramural research support. It does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the associations between coping strategies and longer delay as proof that changing coping would shorten diagnosis. This was an observational study using retrospective interviews, and it did not test any intervention.