Cancer risk assessment: conceptual considerations for clinical practice.
OBJECTIVE
To review current information on the types and components of risk assessment and associated considerations for clinical practice and education.


METHODS
Published articles, book chapters, and clinical experience.


RESULTS
Cancer risk assessment is a clinical process that is integral to cancer screening. Cancer risk assessment includes obtaining information about cancer risk factors and selecting the best means to communicate this information to individual patients. Ethical, psychosocial, and clinical factors are considerations. A comprehensive tool to provide consistency in documenting risk factors as part of a comprehensive cancer risk assessment is included.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses can conduct and interpret cancer risk assessments. Consideration of conceptual issues of risk assessment may enhance this process.


CONCLUSIONS
When implementing cancer risk assessments into cancer screening programs, nurses need to consider the purpose of conducting the risk assessment, how the information will be interpreted to the population being served, and the potential impact on an individual patient.
Mahon
S M
SM
St. Louis School of Nursing, Missouri, USA.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011322:Primary Prevention; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution