Table 2.

Key characteristics of three different studies, guided by the Theory of care-seeking behavior (TCSB)

Study	Purpose(s)	Design		Sample	How addressed concepts from theory	Data Analysis
Cancer screening study among Hmong women (Lor, Khang, Xiong, Moua, & Lauver, 2013)	To understand Hmong women’s underuse of breast and cervical cancer screening, guided by theory	Descriptive Cross-sectional	Group of 16 Hmong women, aged 24 to 73. Primary language for most participants was Hmong.		In a focus group, asked open-ended questions, based on concepts from theory. For each, we asked at least one question.	Conducted directed, content analysis of participants’ responses. Coding categories were based primarily on TCSB concepts.
Sexually- transmitted infection screening study (Backonja, Royer, & Lauver, 2014)	To describe people’s reasons to seek sexual transmitted infections (STIs) screening, guided by theory	Descriptive, Cross-sectional	330 college students, 216 female and 114 male; ≥18 years. Most were White and had never been screened for STIs.		Designed a questionnaire, based on concepts from theory. Asked closed-ended questions with checklists and open-ended. Asked at least one question.	Analyzed responses to closed-ended questions with descriptive statistics. Conducted directed, content analysis of participants’ responses to open-ended questions. Coding categories were based primarily on TCSB concepts.
Cancer screening intervention study (Lauver, Settersten Kane, & Henriques, 2003)	To test effects of a nurse-delivered, patient-centered intervention, guided by concepts from theory, on women’s breast screening behaviors. To assess whether intervention effects differed by external conditions, based on proposition from theory.	Randomized, control trial. Women assigned randomly to one of three message conditions (nothing initially, usual care, or tailored discussion, based on theory.) Example outcomes: Rates of clinical breast examination and mammography use. Collected data at 3 points in time: baseline, 3–4 months post-intervention, and 13–16 months post-intervention.	797 women recruited from 3 sources (a hospital including based radiology department serving low-income urban clients, and control participants from a case-control study) To control for habit, we excluded women who had had mammograms in prior 13 months.		Intervener served as a normative influence. Assessed and addressed concepts from theory (e.g., typical affect, utility beliefs, and norms) in tailored discussions with participants assigned to theory-based, message condition. Measured external conditions with questionnaire.	Conducted hierarchical regressions. Determined whether message condition influenced rate of breast cancer screening behaviors. Examined also whether degree of external conditions moderated rates of screening behaviors.