Self-rated breast cancer risk among women reporting a first-degree family history of breast cancer on office screening questionnaires in routine medical care: the role of physician-delivered risk feedback.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated whether risk-related feedback delivered by one's primary care physician is associated with self-ratings of risk among women found to have a first-degree family history of breast cancer on office screening questionnaires.


METHODS



METHODS
Mailed survey of women registered with the Cancer Genetics Network having a first-degree family history of breast cancer. Eligibility: Completion of primary care-based family history screening within the past year.


METHODS
presence of physician feedback about breast cancer risk. Dependent variable: self-rated breast cancer risk. Modifying variable: trust in one's doctor.


RESULTS
Three hundred one women met eligibility criteria (73% minimum response rate); feedback was associated with rating one's risk to be "high" in both crude and multivariate analysis. (ORadj = 2.38; 95% CI = 1.30, 4.38). Higher levels of trust in the physician were associated in a dose-dependent fashion with the strength of association between feedback and self-rating one's risk to be high.


CONCLUSIONS
Physician feedback following the identification of a first-degree family history of breast cancer appears to influence whether or not women categorize themselves to be at high risk and trust is an important modifier of this association.
Gramling
Robert
R
Brown Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Anthony
David
D
Simmons
Emma
E
Bowen
Deborah
D
D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree; D010820:Physicians; D012306:Risk; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires