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Sensations, symptoms, and then what? Early bodily experiences prior to diagnosis of lung cancer

Bernhardson, Britt Marie ; Tishelman, Carol ; Rasmussen, Birgit H. LU ; Hajdarevic, Senada ; Malmström, Marlene LU orcid ; Hasle, Trine Laura Overgaard ; Locock, Louise and Eriksson, Lars E. (2021) In PLoS ONE 16(3 March).
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... (More)

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.

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Contribution to journal
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published
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PLoS ONE
volume
16
issue
3 March
article number
e0249114
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85103493524
  • pmid:33780498
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0249114
language
English
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yes
id
4075b550-da9c-4c4a-bd48-db746192cd00
date added to LUP
2021-04-13 10:44:08
date last changed
2024-11-17 02:35:43
@article{4075b550-da9c-4c4a-bd48-db746192cd00,
  abstract     = {{<p>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. </p>}},
  author       = {{Bernhardson, Britt Marie and Tishelman, Carol and Rasmussen, Birgit H. and Hajdarevic, Senada and Malmström, Marlene and Hasle, Trine Laura Overgaard and Locock, Louise and Eriksson, Lars E.}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3 March}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Sensations, symptoms, and then what? Early bodily experiences prior to diagnosis of lung cancer}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249114}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0249114}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}