Late presentation among patients with cancer in Saudi Arabia

By



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this chance for thanking my research facilitator, friends & family for support they provided & their belief in me as well as guidance they provided without which I would have never been able to do this research.

DECLARATION

I, (Your name), would like to declare that all contents included in this thesis/dissertation stand for my individual work without any aid, & this thesis/dissertation has not been submitted for any examination at academic as well as professional level previously. It is also representing my very own views & not essentially which are associated with university.

Signature:

Date:

CHAPTER TWO

Factors associated with delay in presentation among patients with cancer

A Literature Review

2.1 Purpose of the review:

When reviewing the literature prior to data collection, I did not mean to use the theory generated in the previous studies to be a priori variables to be investigated. Rather, I aimed to understand what previous researches have discovered on the topic. I also aimed to find gaps and measure the level of theory and knowledge development relevant to the problem area and to gain an understanding of the boundaries of the research. Reviewing the literature provides a rationale for selection of the research strategy and helps to evaluate how others have struggled with and resolved the same question (Denzin et al. 2005).

2.2 Literature search- the process

Searching the literature started in October 2007 and involved a systematic process in order to have a comprehensive identification of the literature on the factors associated with late presentation of cancer. The databases used to identify the literature were: Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane library, ASSIA, CINAHL and DARE. In an attempt to have a more comprehensive search, the search covered the period from 1950 to the current week of the search. The search involved empirical and theoretical literature to gain wider exploratory and explanatory perspectives. The keywords used for searching the literature included: Cancer, neoplasm, delay, diagnosis, treatment, late presentation, referral.

Boolean method was used, and 21 articles were selected as relevant to the research question. Using “find cited article” and “find similar article”, 12 additional articles were identified and selected for the review (total = 33). The final number of articles used for this review was 24 articles. Although the search was performed systematically to insure a comprehensive inclusion of the body literature, the review did not aim to be systematic as my approach to the relationship between theory and research is “inductive” rather than “detective”. In inductive approach, theory is the outcome of the study rather than the basis for it (Bryman 2008). Systematic review normally limits the studies to those of specific standards in order to fulfill the inclusion criteria. This can be seen as strength in deductive approach where variables need to be defined and investigated.

The designs of the studies reviewed vary between inductive designs where theories were generated and meanings of experiences were explored and deductive designs where variables were ...