{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T18:21:48Z","timestamp":1789669308882,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,16]],"date-time":"2021-08-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1629072000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,16]],"date-time":"2021-08-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1629072000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Fam Pract"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A prerequisite for general practitioners (GPs) being able to refer patients with gynecological cancer alarm symptoms for further investigations is that individuals present the symptoms to the GP. Not all symptoms are presented to the GP, and knowledge of barriers for healthcare-seeking is sparse. The aim of this study was to analyze associations between age, socioeconomic status, and common barriers (\u201cbeing too embarrassed\u201d, \u201cbeing too busy\u201d, \u201cworried about wasting the doctors time\u201d and \u201cworried what the GP might find\u201d) towards GP contact with gynecological alarm symptoms.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Nationwide population-based study in Denmark based on a random sample of 51 090 women aged 20\u00a0years or older. A web-based questionnaire regarding experience of four predefined alarm symptoms of gynecological cancer, decisions about contact to GPs, and barriers towards GP contact was distributed. Information about socioeconomic status was collected from Statistics Denmark.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A total of 26 466 women (54.5%) completed the questionnaire. The proportion of women with no contact to the GP varied between 64.6% and 78.1% for postmenopausal bleeding and pain during intercourse, respectively. Between 32.3% (bleeding during intercourse) and 45.3% (postmenopausal bleeding) of the women reported no barriers for GP contact. The proportions of reported barriers ranged from 7.5% for being too embarrassed (pelvic pain) to 26.8% for being too busy (bleeding during intercourse).<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:p>Women aged 40\u201359\u00a0years had lower odds of reporting \u201cbeing too embarrassed\u201d and \u201cworried about wasting the GP\u00b4s time\u201d, while women aged 60\u2009+\u2009years of age had lower odds of reporting \u201cbeing too busy\u201d compared to the youngest age group.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:p>Women in the highest income groups had lower odds of reporting \u201cbeing too embarrassed\u201d and \u201cwasting the GP\u00b4s time\u201d compared to those with a low income, while those with high educational level had lower odds of reporting \u201cbeing too embarrassed\u201d and \u201cworried what the GP might find\u201d compared to those with low educational level.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>More than half of the respondents with no contact to the GP, reported one or more barriers towards GP contact. Lower age and socioeconomic status were significantly associated with higher odds of reporting barriers. As this may explain the differences in healthcare seeking behavior, healthcare planners, policy makers and clinicians should be aware of these findings.<\/jats:p>\n              <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12875-021-01518-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,16]],"date-time":"2021-08-16T12:03:57Z","timestamp":1629115437000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Women\u2019s barriers for contacting general practice when experiencing gynecological cancer symptoms: a population-based study"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Kirubakaran","family":"Balasubramaniam","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sanne","family":"Rasmussen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter Fentz","family":"Haastrup","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kaspar","family":"Suadicani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jens","family":"S\u00f8ndergaard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dorte Ejg","family":"Jarb\u00f8l","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,16]]},"reference":[{"issue":"Suppl 2","key":"1518_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S1","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.bjc.6605382","volume":"101","author":"MA Richards","year":"2009","unstructured":"Richards MA. 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