Why patients delay seeking care for cancer symptoms
Postgraduate MedicinePublished 1 March 1991
Neil Love
Citations35
SJR quartileQ2
SJR score0.76
SNIP0.81
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TL;DR
By making good use of opportunities for patient education, primary care physicians may positively influence the prognosis of several types of cancer, particularly breast cancer and malignant melanoma of the skin.
Abstract
Patient delay in seeking care for cancer symptoms is common and well documented by research studies. Fear and denial, lack of information about cancer, and financial considerations all contribute to this delay. Patient education may be an important factor in decreasing the length of delay and thereby improving treatment outcome. By making good use of opportunities for patient education, primary care physicians may positively influence the prognosis of several types of cancer, particularly breast cancer and malignant melanoma of the skin.
Keywords
MedicineBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
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