Abstract
To investigate the cognition of medical professionals when following screening guidelines for colorectal cancer (CRC) and barriers to CRC screening. Between February 2012 and December 2012, an anonymous survey with 19-questions based on several CRC screening guidelines was randomly administered to gastroenterologists, oncologists, general surgeons, and general practitioners in Jiangsu, a developed area in China where the incidence of CRC is relatively high. The average cognitive score was 26.4% among 924 respondents. Gastroenterologists and oncologists had higher scores compared with others (p<0.01 and p<0.01, respectively); doctor of medicine (M.D.) with or without doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) or holders with bachelor of medical science (BMS) achieved higher scores than other lower degree holders (P<0.05). More importantly, doctors who finished CRC related education in the past year achieved higher scores than the others (p<0.001). The most commonly listed barriers to referring high-risk patients for CRC screening were "anxiety about colonoscopy without anesthesia", "lack of awareness of the current guidelines" and "lack of insurance reimbursement. " Lack of cognition was detected among doctors when following CRC screening guidelines for high-risk populations. Educational programs should be recommended to improve their cognition and reduce barriers to CRC screening.
Highlights
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is considered to be a main cause of malignancy-related death in the world (Parkin, 2001), and in China (Sung et al, 2005)
100.0 screening that patient and if the exam is normal how often would you screen *A patient was told that he has a family history of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP), but has not been genetically tested
At what age would you recommend screening and how often would you screen *A patient was told that he has a family history of Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC), 24.7% 75.0 but has not been genetically tested
Summary
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is considered to be a main cause of malignancy-related death in the world (Parkin, 2001), and in China (Sung et al, 2005). Doctors cognition on latest guidelines could be an important factor impacting the screening practices (Klabunde et al, 2003; Klabunde et al, 2009; Jenn et al, 2012; Lin et al, 2012). Few studies focused on assessing doctors cognition on CRC screening guidelines in China and doctors barriers to appropriate CRC in high-risk people with a family history of colorectal disease. Our aim is to investigate doctors cognition of CRC screening guidelines based on family history as well as patient symptoms, and to evaluate barriers for compliance with established CRC screening guidelines
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