BACKGROUND: Guidelines for breast cancer screening often provide conflicting recommndations. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used to examine approaches to cancer screening among primary care physicians. RESULTS: Among the 187 respondents, levels of agreement with the "correct" response ranged between 50% and 73% for each of the four items relating to breast cancer screening; only 42% of physicians demonstrated agreement with three or more of the four items. Physician gender, specialty group, and age category were significant predictors of responses. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest the need to implement educational interventions as one means of decreasing variation in breast cancer screening.
BACKGROUND: Guidelines for breast cancer screening often provide conflicting recommndations. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used to examine approaches to cancer screening among primary care physicians. RESULTS: Among the 187 respondents, levels of agreement with the "correct" response ranged between 50% and 73% for each of the four items relating to breast cancer screening; only 42% of physicians demonstrated agreement with three or more of the four items. Physician gender, specialty group, and age category were significant predictors of responses. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest the need to implement educational interventions as one means of decreasing variation in breast cancer screening.