School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Feb 22;24(1):570. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18050-7.
Pancreatic cancer, ranking seventh in global cancer-related deaths, poses a significant public health challenge with increasing incidence and mortality. Most cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in low survival rates. Early diagnosis significantly impacts prognosis, making symptom awareness crucial. Symptoms are often subtle, leading to delayed help-seeking behaviour. Patients and their carers prioritise increased public awareness, indicating a need for innovative approaches to promote awareness of the disease.
This study employed a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design to assess the relationship between a serious game and pancreatic cancer awareness. Members of the public (N = 727) were recruited internationally, via social media and with signposting by relevant organisations. Participants completed measures of symptom awareness and help-seeking intentions before and after playing the game. The serious game, co-designed with experts by lived experience, patient advocates and healthcare professionals, presented participants with a human anatomy diagram, with each section linked to a question about pancreatic cancer.
The serious game demonstrated a statistically significant improvement on pancreatic cancer awareness based on matched paired t-tests. Due to missing data, paired comparisons were only possible for 489 cases. Symptom awareness scores exhibited a statistically significant increase from pre-test to post-test, with a large effect size (p < 0.001, d = 1.43). Help-seeking intentions also markedly improved, showing a significant increase from pre-test to post-test, with a large effect size (p < 0.001, d = 1.10). Independent-samples t-tests were also conducted to determine if there were any group differences on pre- to post-test changes based on age, gender, and previous knowledge and/or experience of pancreatic cancer. Participants overwhelmingly endorsed the game's usability and educational value, suggesting its potential as an effective tool for enhancing public awareness and proactive health-seeking behaviour.
This study is the first to explore a serious game's utility in pancreatic cancer awareness. Results suggest that such interventions can effectively increase public awareness and influence help-seeking intentions. The co-design process ensured content relevance, and participant satisfaction was high. Findings highlight the game's potential as an accessible and convenient tool for diverse populations.
胰腺癌在全球癌症相关死亡中排名第七，其发病率和死亡率不断上升，对公众健康构成了重大挑战。大多数病例在晚期诊断，导致生存率低。早期诊断对预后有重大影响，因此症状意识至关重要。这些症状通常很微妙，导致寻求帮助的行为延迟。患者及其照顾者优先提高公众意识，表明需要创新方法来提高对这种疾病的认识。
本研究采用准实验前后测试设计，评估了一款严肃游戏与胰腺癌意识之间的关系。通过社交媒体和相关组织的引导，在国际范围内招募了公众（N=727）参与。参与者在玩游戏前后完成了症状意识和寻求帮助意愿的测量。这款严肃游戏由专家、患者倡导者和医疗保健专业人员共同设计，以人体解剖图呈现，每个部分都与一个关于胰腺癌的问题相关联。
基于配对样本 t 检验，严肃游戏在胰腺癌意识方面显示出统计学上的显著提高。由于数据缺失，仅对 489 例进行了配对比较。症状意识得分在前后测试中显示出统计学上的显著增加，具有较大的效应量（p<0.001，d=1.43）。寻求帮助的意愿也显著提高，从前后测试来看，具有显著的增加，具有较大的效应量（p<0.001，d=1.10）。还进行了独立样本 t 检验，以确定年龄、性别以及之前对胰腺癌的了解和/或经验是否会对前后测试变化产生任何组间差异。参与者非常认可游戏的可用性和教育价值，表明其作为增强公众意识和主动寻求健康行为的有效工具的潜力。
这是第一项探索严肃游戏在胰腺癌意识中的效用的研究。结果表明，这种干预措施可以有效地提高公众意识并影响寻求帮助的意愿。共同设计过程确保了内容的相关性，并且参与者的满意度很高。研究结果突出了该游戏作为一种适用于不同人群的便捷工具的潜力。
