Do patients and doctors have the same conversation about colorectal cancer screening?

Abstract

532 Background: Participant characteristics affect shared decision making. In a randomized trial of physician (MD) educational interventions to improve cancer screening guideline compliance, we studied patient (PT) and MD recall of discussions and how PT characteristics affected recall. We report the first results for colorectal cancer screening. Methods: In a cluster-randomized trial of educational supports for MDs, we are enrolling an age- (30-89 years) and sex-stratified sample of 216 PTs who underwent a physical examination at two urban hospitals, 18 for each of 12 primary care MDs. Screening guideline formatting (color-coding) and academic detailing were randomly assigned to MDs in a 2x2 design. Immediate post-encounter surveys recorded PT and MD recall of screening discussions and recommendations. Results: We report on the first 174 participants. They were diverse (63% white) and well educated (77% college degree). When MDs reported a colorectal screening discussion, 20% of PTs did not, and MDs had similar disagreement when PTs reported the discussion. Greater disagreement occurred on the MD recommendation: 15% of PTs disagreed when the MD reported screening was recommended, and 33% of MDs disagreed when their patients reported they had recommended it. Agreement between PTs and MDs on whether screening was recommended was fair (kappa = 0.33), and there was no agreement for PTs over 70 years (kappa = -0.15). When PTs under 50 or 75 and older differed from their MDs on screening recommendations, it was for screening not against (8 vs. 2). PTs reported more elements of shared decision making than MDs (data not shown). Conclusions: In a highly educated population of PTs and MDs surveyed immediately after their encounter, reports of whether colorectal screening was discussed, the shared decision making elements and the MD recommendation had important discrepancies, especially for older PTs. Clinical trial information: NCT02430948.