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Physician behaviors to promote informed decisions for prostate cancer screening: A National Research Network study
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Jun 2014
Source: J Cancer Educ. 29(2):345-349. -
Alternative Title:J Cancer Educ
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Description:Background
Clinical guidelines for prostate cancer screening (PCS) advise physicians to discuss the potential harms and benefits of screening. However, there is a lack of training programs for informed decision making (IDM), and it is unknown which IDM behaviors physicians have the most difficulty performing. Identifying difficult behaviors can help tailor training programs.
Purpose
In the context of developing a physician IDM program for PCS, we aimed to describe physicians’ use of nine key IDM behaviors for the PCS discussion and to examine the relation between the behaviors and physician characteristics.
Methods
A cross-sectional sample of The American Academy of Family Physicians National Research Network completed surveys about their behavior regarding PCS (N=246; response rate=58%). The surveys included nine physician key IDM behaviors for PCS and a single-item question describing their general practice style for PCS.
Results
The most common IDM behavior was to invite men to ask questions. The two least common reported behaviors concerned patients uncertain about screening (i.e., arrange follow up and provide additional information for undecided men). Physicians reported difficulty with these two behaviors regardless whether they reported to discuss or not to discuss PCS with patients. Reported use of key IDM behaviors was associated with a general practice style for PCS and being affiliated with a residency training program.
Conclusions
Physician training programs for IDM should include physician skills to address the needs of patients uncertain about screening. Future research should determine whether if actual behavior is associated with self-reported behavior for the PCS discussion.
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Pubmed ID:24488590
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Pubmed Central ID:PMC5160960
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