Primary care provider-reported participation in breast cancer treatment decision making.

Abstract

78 Background: Surgical treatment decisions for early-stage breast cancer patients are complex and often involve discussions with multiple oncology providers. However, with the increasing adoption of team-based cancer care models, it remains unknown to what extent primary care providers (PCPs) are participating in breast cancer treatment decisions and whether they feel they have enough knowledge to participate in these decisions effectively. Methods: A stratified random sample of PCPs identified by newly diagnosed early-stage breast cancer patients who participated in iCanCare Study (Georgia and Los Angeles SEER registries) were surveyed about their experiences caring for cancer patients (N = 519, 58% current response rate). PCPs were asked how frequently they discussed which surgery a patient should have, how comfortable they were with these discussions, whether they had the necessary knowledge to participate in treatment decision making and their confidence in their ability to help with treatment decision making (5-item likert-type scales). The individual items were then categorized as somewhat/often/always vs. never/rarely for analyses. Results: In this preliminary sample, 62% of PCPs were not comfortable having a discussion about surgery options with a patient newly diagnosed with breast cancer, 41% did not feel that they had the necessary knowledge to participate in treatment decision-making, and 34% were not confident in the ability to help with treatment decision-making. One third (32%) of PCPs reported discussing surgical treatment options with their newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, but 22% of these PCPs also reported that they were not comfortable having these discussions and 16% reported they did not have necessary knowledge to participate in decision-making. Conclusions: A minority of PCPs participate in breast cancer treatment decision-making and there are notable gaps in their self-reported knowledge about decision-making and confidence in their ability to help with these decisions. Efforts to increase PCP knowledge about the specifics of cancer treatments may be warranted, but further research is needed to assess the impact of PCP participation on treatment decision-making outcomes.