Does public information about cancer screening do more harm than good?October 13, 1999Researchers at Imperial Cancer Research Fund have overturned claims that information provided to the public as part of a cancer screening programme increases people's anxiety about the disease and worries them unnecessarily. Their work is published today in the British Medical Journal*. The team was led by Professor Jane Wardle of Imperial Cancer Research Fund's Health Behaviour Unit. It compared the levels of anxiety and fear of bowel cancer experienced by a group of people given information about a new screening programme for the disease, with a group who were given no information about it. Far from increasing anxiety, the team actually found that providing information about cancer and cancer screening could be reassuring. Professor Wardle explains: "The group that received information about the test and about bowel cancer reported fewer feelings of worry about the disease and did not appear to be any more anxious than the control group." The team believes that providing information about cancer screening may actually have psychological benefits, particularly if it includes practical advice about prevention and spotting symptoms early. Professor Wardle continues: "Our results do not support the idea that publicity about cancer screening produces widespread alarm and we believe that it may even have a positive effect." The research is part of Imperial Cancer Research Fund's continuing work into the psychological and emotional aspects of cancer. It follows a recent survey of breast cancer awareness, carried out by Imperial Cancer Research Fund with the Office of National Statistics (ONS), for Breast Cancer Awareness Month*. The survey showed that women who felt they had a poor knowledge of breast cancer were the ones most likely to be worried about the disease. The women's responses also correspond quite closely with the results of Professor Wardle's research. The vast majority did not believe that there was too much publicity and two thirds of the women surveyed said that they would like more information about breast cancer. ENDS Institut Pasteur |
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