Carter-Harris Lisa
School of Nursing, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana.
J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. 2015 May;27(5):240-5. doi: 10.1002/2327-6924.12227. Epub 2015 Mar 3.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of perceived lung cancer stigma and timing of medical help-seeking behavior in symptomatic individuals.
A convenience sample was recruited from an academic thoracic oncology clinic and community hospital-based outpatient radiation center in a large city in the southeastern United States. This descriptive, cross-sectional study used survey methodology and semistructured interviews to examine the relationship of perceived lung cancer stigma and delayed medical help seeking finding a statistically significant positive correlation. Additional examination revealed positive correlations between the stigma and shame, social isolation, and smoking-related stigma subscales and delay. The discrimination-related subscale was not associated with delay. In addition, smoking status was not related to perceived lung cancer stigma.
Findings support an association between lung cancer stigma and delayed medical help-seeking behavior. Therefore, lung cancer stigma is a potential barrier to timely medical help-seeking behavior in lung cancer symptoms, which can have important patient outcome implications.
As primary care nurse practitioners, awareness that lung cancer stigma exists for patients is essential regardless of smoking status and efforts to decrease this barrier to timely health care are important.
本研究旨在探讨有症状个体中感知到的肺癌污名与寻求医疗帮助行为的时间之间的关系。
便利样本取自美国东南部一个大城市的学术性胸科肿瘤诊所和社区医院门诊放疗中心。这项描述性横断面研究采用调查方法和半结构化访谈来研究感知到的肺癌污名与延迟寻求医疗帮助之间的关系，发现两者存在统计学上显著的正相关。进一步分析显示，污名与羞耻感、社会隔离以及与吸烟相关的污名分量表和延迟之间存在正相关。与歧视相关的分量表与延迟无关。此外，吸烟状况与感知到的肺癌污名无关。
研究结果支持肺癌污名与延迟寻求医疗帮助行为之间存在关联。因此，肺癌污名是肺癌症状患者及时寻求医疗帮助行为的潜在障碍，这可能对患者的预后产生重要影响。
作为初级保健执业护士，无论患者吸烟状况如何，认识到患者存在肺癌污名至关重要，努力减少这一及时获得医疗保健的障碍很重要。
