Abstract
Research suggests that perceiving cancer as a death sentence is a critical determinant of health care-seeking behaviors. However, there is limited information regarding the prevalence of this perception in the US population. Cross-sectional analysis of data (n = 7674 adults) from the 2007-2008 administration of the nationally representative Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 3) was performed. A majority (61.6%) of respondents perceived cancer as death sentence, and more than one-third (36%) of respondents reported that they avoid seeing their physicians. In the adult US population, perceiving cancer as a death sentence is common and is associated with education level and avoidance of physicians.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1518-1524 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Health Psychology |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 3 2014 |
Keywords
- cancer
- health behavior
- health psychology
- perception
- public health psychology