Table 4.

Reasons given for not seeing a doctor with a symptom

Topic area	Example	N
Service barriers	Never know which doctor you are going to see	1
	Because I do not like talking to my GP	1
	Can’t figure how to book appointment on the net	1
	Was awaiting regular hospital specialist appointment	5
	Not registered	1
Practical barriers	Not had time, been busy	7
	Difficulty in getting someone to take me	2
Emotional barriers	Because I don’t want to know	8
	Not sure if I’m being silly	5
Symptom interpretation	Forgotten and believe the symptom has gone away	9
	Talked to others/googled symptoms on the doctor’s website	4
	It’s alright really, (e.g. ‘it’s only a few freckles’)	6
	Thought it might have been something else	3
	Tried self-medication (e.g. for cough) and it cured it	1
	Could be caused by something else (e.g. cough caused by smoking)	2
Other	Don’t know/only recently noticed	5
	Total	61