Perspectives of international experts and the Danish citizens on the ‘relevant knowledge’ that citizens need for making informed choices about participation in cancer screening: Qualitative study

Rikke Nicoline Stokholm*, Pia Kirkegaard, Mette Bach Larsen, Henrik Hein Lauridsen, Dawn Stacey, Diane M. Harper, Karen Sepucha, Kirsten McCaffery, Maren Reder, Michael Pignone, Mirjam Fransen, Robert J. Volk, Yvonne Wengström, Adrian Edwards, Berit Andersen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the perspectives of international experts and Danish citizens on relevant knowledge about population-based breast, colorectal and cervical cancer screening. Methods: This was a qualitative interview study with focus group interviews with experts and Danish citizens eligible for breast, colorectal and/or cervical cancer screening. Data were collected using semi-structured interview guides, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis was conducted. Results: Participants were nine international experts from Germany, Canada, the USA, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia, and 54 citizens from Denmark. Most citizens had 'adequate' or 'problematic' levels of health literacy. Themes that experts and citizens agreed on were: knowledge about the disease and symptoms, practical information about screening, benefits of screening, the option of non-participation and the importance of having numeric information of possible screening outcomes. Experts agreed on the importance of knowledge about the harms of screening, but only a minority of citizens considered this important. Conclusions: The experts and citizens disagreed on the relevance of knowledge about harms of screening and agreed on other relevant knowledge. Practice implications: What experts and citizens find important may not align when making informed decisions. Therefore, experts and citizens needs to be involved when developing questionnaires.

Original languageEnglish
Article number108479
JournalPatient Education and Counseling
Volume130
ISSN0738-3991
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2025

Keywords

  • Breast cancer screening
  • Cancer screening
  • Cervical cancer screening
  • Colorectal cancer screening
  • Decision-making
  • Informed choice
  • Knowledge

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Perspectives of international experts and the Danish citizens on the ‘relevant knowledge’ that citizens need for making informed choices about participation in cancer screening: Qualitative study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this