Fear of cancer is associated with cancer information seeking, scanning and avoiding: a cross‐sectional study among cancer diagnosed and non‐diagnosed individuals

Nelissen, Sara; Beullens, Kathleen; Lemal, Marijke; Bulck, Jan Van den

doi:10.1111/hir.12100

Cited by 40 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Although previous studies suggest that people may be “in two minds” about cancer, our study shows that the first response to cancer is often negative. Cancer fear and fatalism undermine cancer prevention and early detection behaviours, and further research is needed to explore how these attitudes are formed and how they may be changed to increase the effectiveness of cancer control strategies, especially in groups with lower levels of education. Examples of effective interventions to address fatalistic attitudes in the US included video interventions aimed at targeting barriers to cancer screening or presenting narratives of cancer survivors .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Negative beliefs about cancer adversely affect cancer‐related behaviours. Cancer fatalism (the belief that cancer is inevitably fatal), has consistently been shown to deter individuals from attending cancer screening, help‐seeking for possible cancer symptoms, and attending to cancer‐related information . Such fatalistic beliefs are more prevalent in certain subgroups of the population, including those from more deprived backgrounds .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding middle‐aged and older adults' first associations with the word “cancer”: A mixed methods study in England

Agustina¹,

Dodd²,

Waller³

et al. 2017

Psycho-Oncology

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ObjectiveCancer is still widely feared and often associated with death. Fatalistic beliefs adversely affect help‐seeking for cancer symptoms and engagement in cancer prevention. This study aims to understand middle‐aged and older adults' first association with the word “cancer” and their relationship with sociodemographic factors, cancer fear, and cancer information avoidance.MethodsWe conducted a cross‐sectional survey of 1464 community‐based adults aged 50 to 70 living in England in April 2015. First associations with cancer were measured qualitatively and analysed using content analysis. We used binary logistic regression to analyse associations between the most common first association of cancer and sociodemographic characteristics, cancer fear, and cancer information avoidance.ResultsCancer was most commonly associated with “death” (26%). Respondents with lower levels of education, living in the Midlands or North of England where cancer mortality is higher, or with close friends or family members with a cancer history, were more likely to associate cancer with death. Cancer fear was significantly associated with death associations, but cancer information avoidance was not.ConclusionsDespite improved cancer outcomes, middle‐aged and older adults often associate cancer with death. Further efforts to decrease fatalistic associations in this age group may be needed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding middle‐aged and older adults' first associations with the word “cancer”: A mixed methods study in England

Agustina¹,

Dodd²,

Waller³

et al. 2017

Psycho-Oncology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Interview participants were disinterested in looking up symptoms online, explaining that they did not want to worry themselves, adding that online symptom checkers tend to put the worst possible scenario front and center. A 2015 study exploring the relationship between cancer worry and information seeking found that worry is associated with cancer information acquisition for some, and avoidance behavior for others (Nelissen et al, 2015). That study surveyed a group of individuals with a cancer diagnoses and a group of individuals without cancer and found that a cancer diagnosis did not moderate an individual's information seeking behaviors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abstract DPOC-005: #OVARIANCANCER: USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO FACILITATE HEALTH COMMUNICATION

Coffin

2017

Clinical Cancer Research

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Bioethics & Humanities Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women. Women with a personal 2014). Anyone with an internet connection is invited to create, exchange, and consume usergenerated content, transforming passive consumers into content producers with increasing frequency (Keim & Noji 2011; Arigo et al., 2018). Today, over 72% of adult internet users go online for health information (Volkman et al., 2014; Fox & Duggan, 2013). This trend of seeking and consuming health information over social media is slated to increase along with growing mobile device ownership (PEW Research, 2018C). Social media users feel that the internet is a valuable source for health information, and often query their health concerns over social networking sites inhabited by people with shared health experiences (Duggan et al., 2015; Hong et al., 2012). Many of these individuals use the internet to address their health concerns and even self-diagnose before contacting their health care provider (

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“…Wikipedia is now an excellent and quickly accessible source of information for statistical analysis and can be a useful resource for quickly checking details. 1 However, for more detailed support, you will probably need a more in-depth statistics book. Liwen Vaughan's book 'Statistical Methods for the Information Professional' remains a key resource for the library and information sector 2 and, using examples from the information science sector, can help you identify what type of data you have (nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio data) and which statistical tests are most appropriate to use (chi-square, t-test, ANOVA, etc.…”

Section: Tell a Storymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nelisson et al 1 used a questionnaire survey in investigating information behaviour. They recruited a convenience sample of 621 cancer diagnosed and 1387 non-diagnosed individuals.…”

Section: Referencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reporting statistical analyses in peer review journal articles

Stephens

Grant

2015

Health Info Libraries J

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As a regular referee for the Health Information and Libraries Journal, Richard Stephens--Winner of the 2014 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize--has been impressed by the science on offer in the Health Information and Libraries Journal. But he has also been struck by how often similar problems with statistical analysis reporting come up during the review process. Acknowledging that statistics can be scary, he advocates that they should be simply viewed as a means of communicating ideas. In this editorial, he provides some straightforward guidelines on reporting statistical analyses in peer review journal articles, highlights pitfalls to avoid and illustrates best practice to aim for.

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Fear of cancer is associated with cancer information seeking, scanning and avoiding: a cross‐sectional study among cancer diagnosed and non‐diagnosed individuals

Abstract: Fear of cancer is positively associated with cancer information acquisition and avoiding behaviour. This suggests that fear of cancer predicts different behaviours in different individuals.

Cited by 40 publications

References 26 publications

Understanding middle‐aged and older adults' first associations with the word “cancer”: A mixed methods study in England

Understanding middle‐aged and older adults' first associations with the word “cancer”: A mixed methods study in England

Abstract DPOC-005: #OVARIANCANCER: USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO FACILITATE HEALTH COMMUNICATION

Reporting statistical analyses in peer review journal articles

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