Practice patterns in rectal cancer patient follow-up are unaffected by surgeon age.
BACKGROUND
Surveillance strategies for of rectal cancer patients after potentially curative treatment vary significantly. We investigated whether the age of the surgeon affects choice of surveillance strategy.


METHODS
We developed vignettes depicting 4 generally healthy patients with rectal cancer of various stages who received various treatments. A questionnaire based on these vignettes was sent to the 1795 members of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS).


RESULTS
There was no significant relationship between surgeon age and follow-up test-ordering schedules for any of the 4 vignettes. There was no significant relationship between surgeon age and 10 of the 11 possible motivating factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Follow-up testing among ASCRS surgeons does not vary significantly among surgeons trained at various times. The motivation for follow-up testing is nearly uniform among age strata.
Patel
Uday
U
St. George's Hospital Medical School, University of London, London, UK.
Ode
Kenichi
K
Audisio
Riccardo A
RA
Virgo
Katherine S
KS
Johnson
Frank E
FE
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends*; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*