Evaluation of an educational programme for the early detection of cancer

Avoiding patient's and doctor's delay is important for the detection of can cer. In order to study the possibilities for shortening the delay, without causing anxiety, an educational programme for early detection of cancer (EP EDC) was worked out, aimed to be evaluated at the community level. A commun ity with 77 100 inhabitants, was informed about cancer symptoms in a letter . Participants who observed the cancer symptoms, described in the letter, w ere invited to visit the health centres, where they were interviewed and ex amined according to a specially designed schedule. Guidelines for taking ca re of these participants were also worked out. Fifteen previously unknown c ancers were detected. By means of a telephone interview and a questionnaire the reactions to the EPEDC were studied. The results indicate that it is p ossible to inform and educate the population about cancer symptoms without causing anxiety on condition that there is an organisation which can be con tacted without delay by subjects with potential cancer symptoms. (C) 1999 E lsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.