%0 Journal Article %T Health-Seeking Behaviour and Delayed Presentation of Oral Cancer Patients in a Developing Country: A Qualitative Study based on the Self-Regulatory Model %J Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention %I West Asia Organization for Cancer Prevention (WAOCP), APOCP's West Asia Chapter. %Z 1513-7368 %A Azhar, Nurizyani %A Doss, Jennifer Geraldine %D 2018 %\ 10/01/2018 %V 19 %N 10 %P 2935-2941 %! Health-Seeking Behaviour and Delayed Presentation of Oral Cancer Patients in a Developing Country: A Qualitative Study based on the Self-Regulatory Model %K oral cancer %K health-seeking behaviour %K awareness %K self-regulatory model %K patient related-factors %R 10.22034/APJCP.2018.19.10.2935 %X Background: The aim of this study was to explore reasons for delayed health-seeking for late stage oral cancerpatients. Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 35 oral cancer patients with TNM stageIII to IV disease, who were treated at six tertiary regional centres managing oral cancer throughout Malaysia. Interviewswere audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded using NVivo (version 10.0) qualitative software and analysedusing framework analysis. Results: Participants interpreted their early symptoms as a minor condition and did notconsider it as requiring immediate attention. Four types of coping strategies causing delayed help-seeking emerged:1) self-remedy 2) self-medication 3) seeking traditional healers and 4) consulting general medical practitioners (GPs)instead of dentists. Socio-economic factors, cultural beliefs and religious practices have some influence on diagnosticdelay. Conclusion: Low levels of public knowledge and awareness regarding early signs and symptoms of oral canceras well as GPs’ misdiagnosis of early lesions results in delayed diagnosis. %U https://journal.waocp.org/article_69124_f1650f64b36658b7bf984d74899cfd27.pdf