Medical students: residents often ignore cancer screening letters because they feel healthy

Residents of Latvia most often do not respond to invitations for state-funded preventive cancer screening because they feel healthy and have no symptoms of illness. This is the finding of medical students from the University of Latvia (LU).

This month, October, the students took part in a campaign called "Latvija, atver vēstuli!" ("Latvia, open the letter!"). As part of it, they spoke with people in 15 supermarkets about the state-paid cancer screening checks and tried to learn why people do not sign up for them. According to the students' observations, considerable uncertainty about these checks still persists.

Why waiting for symptoms is the wrong approach

The source material stresses that going to a doctor only when something already hurts is not the right approach. This is why screening is offered even to people who have not noticed any complaints.

The report also raises the question of what other reasons are common among those who ignore an invitation to have their health checked. These reasons are covered in more detail in the original LSM report, which also explains why waiting for symptoms to appear is not a safe choice.

The campaign's name refers to the letters used to invite residents to undergo the state-paid checks. The students' conversations in supermarkets gave a direct picture of how residents view these invitations.