{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,9]],"date-time":"2026-03-09T15:18:10Z","timestamp":1773069490303,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,13]],"date-time":"2014-02-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1392249600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/terms"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pall Supp Care"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,4]]},"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>Objective:<\/jats:title>Research on women's experiences of cervical cancer as a health problem focuses primarily on cervical screening, while their experiences of cervical cancer as a disease seem to be underresearched. This study addresses this understudied area and aims to yield insight into the experiences of underprivileged women confronted with this disease.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Method:<\/jats:title>Our study was qualitative, exploratory, and contextual with descriptive and interpretive elements. The context of the study was a radiation oncology department at an academic hospital in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The target population was all patients diagnosed with cervical cancer referred for treatment at the specific hospital. Convenience sampling selected participants typical of the population. Nineteen open-ended unstructured interviews were conducted after demographic data were collected. One question was posed: \u201cPlease tell me what made you think there was something wrong with you?\u201d Thematic analyses were used to analyze the data.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Results:<\/jats:title>The average age of participants was 47.2 years, with a youngest participant of 29 and oldest of 70. Three themes arose from the data: experiencing the symptoms of cervical cancer, hearing the bad news, and what remained unsaid.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Significance of Results:<\/jats:title>Being confronted with cervical cancer is a traumatic experience. Women suffer unexplained, severe, humiliating vaginal bleeding and unrelieved pain. They have to face a dual healthcare system: on the one hand, unaffordable effective private healthcare and, on the other, the free-of-cost public healthcare that failed them. The bad news of their cervical cancer is most commonly broken in a kind and sympathetic manner, yet misunderstandings and a need for additional information prevail after the bad news conversation. Having to inform their families of their cancer adds to their suffering.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1017\/s1478951513001247","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,13]],"date-time":"2014-02-13T10:11:27Z","timestamp":1392286287000},"page":"239-247","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["\u201cNot a nice experience, not at all\u201d: Underprivileged women's experiences of being confronted with cervical cancer"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Johanna E.","family":"Maree","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gayle","family":"Langley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lucy","family":"Nqubezelo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/jjco\/hyn159"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref6","article-title":"The difficult task of delivering bad news","volume":"16","author":"Brixey","year":"2004","journal-title":"Dermatology Nursing\/Dermatology Nurses' Association"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/pon.1093"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/ewjm.176.3.177"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref27","volume-title":"Comprehensive cervical cancer control: A guide to essential practice","year":"2006"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7326\/0003-4819-145-7-200610030-00006"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref24","unstructured":"SouthAfrica.info (2012). Health care in South Africa. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from http:\/\/www.southafrica.info\/about\/health\/health.htm."},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref4","first-page":"13","volume-title":"Nursing research: Designs and methods","author":"Begley","year":"2008"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00520-003-0552-7"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0959-8049(99)00212-9"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref17","volume-title":"Management of cervical cancer: Strategies for limited-resource centres. 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Oncology"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref25","volume-title":"Introduction to palliative care","author":"Twycross","year":"2003"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/08858190902876262"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/jpm.2007.9929"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0968-8080(08)32399-4"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2354.2009.01156.x"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1011100524076"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1158\/1055-9965.EPI-12-0334"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref29","volume-title":"Strengthening cervical cancer prevention in Europe","year":"2007"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pmn.2005.04.001"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref21","article-title":"Referral steps in district health system are side-stepped","volume":"101","author":"Mojaki","year":"2010","journal-title":"South African Medical Journal"},{"key":"S1478951513001247_ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1191\/1478088706qp063oa"}],"container-title":["Palliative and Supportive Care"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S1478951513001247","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,20]],"date-time":"2019-04-20T22:40:38Z","timestamp":1555800038000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S1478951513001247\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,13]]},"references-count":27,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,4]]}},"alternative-id":["S1478951513001247"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/s1478951513001247","relation":{},"ISSN":["1478-9515","1478-9523"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1478-9515","type":"print"},{"value":"1478-9523","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,13]]}}}