Symptoms, healthcare-seeking and diagnosis

We all experience symptoms from our bodies but interpret them in widely different ways, and far from all symptoms result in a consultation with a doctor. Within the research field, we explore symptoms in the general population and clarify factors important for consulting a doctor. We focus on alarm symptoms of cancer, general serious symptoms, and non-specific symptoms. We examine different elements of the symptom experience and explore the process of healthcare-seeking; including, which personal, structural, or organizational circumstances are important to whether the individual consults a doctor with symptom experiences. Moreover, we explore the individuals’ health literacy and how it affects the healthcare-seeking behaviour with a significant focus on the vulnerable patients.

Another area of focus is on those who have moved into the system through general practice due to their symptoms, but whose symptoms do not fit into traditional diagnoses. We focus on the prevention of developing persistent symptoms, such as symptoms seen with functional disorders and pain syndromes.

The research field also clarifies the general practitioner’s handling of the diagnostic process within selected areas, with special focus on the diagnosing and treatment of gastroenterological issues, gynaecological diseases, symptoms from the respiratory tract, functional disorders, and infections in general. Furthermore, we focus on vulnerable pregnant women and their families.

Contact person:Dorte Ejg Jarbøl

Current Research Projects

Epidemiological studies of symptom incidences and factors important for the healthcare-seeking behaviour in the Danish population (DaSK)

Health competence and inequality in seeking a doctor.
Contact person: associate professor, PhD, doctor Sanne Rasmussen.

Handling and treatment of symptoms from the gastrointestinal area?
Contact person: associate professor, PhD, specialist in general medicine Peter Fentz Haastrup

Investigation and treatment of gynecological symptoms.
Contact person: associate professor, PhD, specialist in general medicine Kirubakaran Balasubramaniam

Interdisciplinary Projects

Contact person: professor, Ph.D. in medical anthropology Rikke Sand Andersen.

ALONE in and beyond cancer care. A life-stage study of the care needs of cancer patients living alone. Lærke Bing Røikjær, PhD student, SDU, Sara Marie Hebsgaard Offersen, AU and Rikke Sand Andersen, SDU. The project is carried out in collaboration with Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen, SFI and Helle Pappot, Rigshospitalet.

PhD Projects

Multiple physical symptoms and coping in the Danish general population
By: Isabella Raasthøj
Primary advisor: Dorte Ejg Jarbøl

The diagnostic process for patients with lung cancer symptoms - a cohort study investigating factors influencing healthcare-seeking behaviour and diagnostic evaluation
By: Doctor, PhD student Lisa Sele Sætre
Principal supervisor: Dorte Ejg Jarbøl

Early diagnosis of cancer: A combined prediction study in general practice and in the Danish population

By: Gitte Bruun Lauridsen

Primary advisor: Dorte Ejg Jarbøl

The female body in the clinic: Healthcare-seeking for and diagnostic work around gynecological disturbances in general practice

By: Mie Kusk Søndergaard

Primary advisor: Rikke Sand Andersen

Factors of importance for management of children with functional gastrointestinal disorders in general practice

By: Steffi Blach Naamansen

Primary advisor: Peter Haastrup