LCDC Lung Cancer Discrete Choice Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding how ‘lung cancer symptoms’ and ‘service’ factors drive the decision to seek help from a GP in the Scottish public: a discrete choice experiment
IRAS ID
165888
Contact name
David Weller
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
This study is focussed on the development of a choice questionnaire to be presented to GP attenders in order to understand how they decide to consult their GP for lung cancer symptoms. At present there is a lot of research into how symptoms and services effect presentation behaviours but it is not clear on how these factors interact within the highly individual internal decision-making process within each person. The study will have immediate policy relevance; there is currently a great deal of interest in refining techniques which encourage people to present with symptoms and to design health services which are as accommodating and flexible as possible - all with the aim of promoting early diagnosis. Outputs of this research will inform public awareness and general practice based interventions in Scotland. The implications might be that patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulminary Disease or tobacco smokers need to be targeted in GP surgeries.
The study design will be based on two (or three) choice scenarios presented to respondents, since three was the most cognitively acceptable for respondents in the PIVOT study1. The design will be tested based on two focus groups with GP attenders recruited from two GP practices in Edinburgh (Lothian). The focus group attenders will agree to review the first design in a focus group and then a second focus group will be run to show patients the changes that have been made and to seek final approval before the design is finalised. The research team will review the design before the final version is tested with GP attenders in Step 3. Participants will be recruited from GP practices as regular GP attenders. Those involved in this study will not have a lung cancer diagnosis. The research is funded by Early Diagnosis Advisory Group (Cancer Research UK).REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
14/WA/1197
Date of REC Opinion
22 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion