title: Prostate cancer screening attitudes and continuing education needs of primary care physicians.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In May 2003, a survey questionnaire was distributed to all licensed primary care physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador. The objective was to examine the attitudes, self-reported practices, and continuing medical education (CME) preferences of primary care physicians as they pertain to prostate cancer screening.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data was obtained from 485 primary care physicians using self-reports of prostate cancer screening practices, attitudes towards prostate cancer screening, and CME preferences. Respondents' characteristics were also collected (eg, gender, years of experience).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A majority of respondents screen asymptomatic male patients for prostate cancer. Screening behaviour was related to high volume practice settings, fee-for-service and increased with patient age. Most common reasons for screening were family history, age of patient, and patient request. Majority of physicians agreed that prostate screening should be routinely performed on all men beginning at age 50, however half of physicians believe there is lack of evidence to support digital rectal examination (DRE) and one-third of physicians do not believe the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) nor DRE are accurate screening tests. Areas of greatest interest for CME included topics related to prostate cancer screening effectiveness, strategies for prevention, sexual dysfunction, available treatments and their side effects, and management options.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physicians are supportive of the value of screening, however the reliability of and evidence to support DRE and PSA as prostate cancer screening tests are in question. CME which addresses issues surrounding prostate screening and areas related to patient education and counselling are of greatest need.
authors.affiliation: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Faculty of Medicine, St John's. vcurran@mun.ca
authors.forename: Vernon
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Curran
authors.forename: Shirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Solberg
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mathews
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Church
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buehler
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lopez
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D051517:Digital Rectal Examination; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009523:Newfoundland and Labrador; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen