Cancer Screening and Diagnostic Tests in Global Contexts: Case Study and Concept Analysis

Abstract

Objective:Although the purposes and outcomes of screening and diagnostic tests are different, they are often confused. Therefore, it is important to delineate the clinical concept of cancer screening tests to be clear in our communication not only among healthcare professionals but also with client populations. The aim of this study is to both describe and analyze the concept of cancer screening and explain their practical meaning in global contexts.Methods:Comparative case studies of cervical and liver cancer screening tests were used as the basis for developing an understanding of a specific concept (phenomenon) of cancer screening and for delineating the relationships between factors that cause screening to occur.Results:A cancer screening is defined as an action taken by both the patient and health-care provider to detect a possible pre-cancerous condition among healthy and asymptomatic individuals who are at sufficient risk of a specific disorder to warrant further investigation or treatment. The case study-based concept analysis has been shown to be useful for improving our understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of the concept in global contexts.Conclusions:New paradigms maximizing participation in cancer screening to detect diseases before symptoms are manifested rather than focusing on diagnosis and treatment of symptomatic infectious diseases need to be developed and implemented.

Cervical Cancer Screening Status Among Women Living With HIV/AIDs in Malawi: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…There are no user fees to access CC services in public and private-not-for-profit health facilities in Malawi, but the screening sites are far and women wait for a long time to be screened. This is in line with other studies conducted in Malawi (Lee et al, , 2019Maseko et al, 2015). This indicates that screening services are not integrated into HIV services.…”

“…Additionally, almost half of the respondents were not aware that there is treatment for cervical cancer. This finding is in line with a qualitative study done in Malawi which found that women misunderstood the CC risk factors and were unaware that there is treatment for cervical cancer (Mtengezo & Lee, 2018;Lee et al, 2019). Based on our results, it is suggested that the impact of health promotion messages in the media and at outpatient departments need to be evaluated and that future health messages or campaigns should be more specific and focused on misunderstanding of risk factors as well as clearly being stated as a "hope for a cure with early identification of cancer.…”

Exploring Complicity of Cervical Cancer Screening in Malawi: The Interplay of Behavioral, Cultural, and Societal Influences

“…Reports from SSA countries including Malawi suggest that barriers to cervical cancer screening include cultural influences, religion, lack of knowledge about cervical cancer, little awareness of the existing prevention and early detection methods, fear of the stigma associated with cancer diagnosis, influence of husbands and in-laws, cost, and embarrassment about the screening procedures. [252627] However, most studies focus only on individual screening behavior attributes, on health delivery, or only perspectives from either health-care providers or health-care recipients. There is a very limited knowledge of the multilevel determinants (at the individual, interpersonal, and sociocultural level) for cervical cancer screening from the perspectives of both health-care providers and health-care recipients in Malawi.…”