title: Time-trend of melanoma screening practice by primary care physicians: a meta-regression analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether the proportion of primary care physicians implementing full body skin examination (FBSE) to screen for melanoma changed over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  Meta-regression analyses of available data.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE, ISI, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen studies surveying 10,336 physicians were included in the analyses. Overall, 15%-82% of them reported to perform FBSE to screen for melanoma. The proportion of physicians using FBSE screening tended to decrease by 1.72% per year (P =0.086). Corresponding annual changes in European, North American, and Australian settings were -0.68% (P =0.494), -2.02% (P =0.044), and +2.59% (P =0.010), respectively. Changes were not influenced by national guide-lines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Considering the increasing incidence of melanoma and other skin malignancies, as well as their relative potential consequences, the FBSE implementation time-trend we retrieved should be considered a worrisome phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: PACMeR (Panhellenic Association for Continual Medical Research), Athens, Greece. valachis@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valachis
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mauri
authors.forename: Vassiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Karampoiki
authors.forename: Nikolaos P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Polyzos
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cortinovis
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koukourakis
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zacharias
authors.forename: Apostolos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xilomenos
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsappi
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Casazza
mesh_terms: D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010821:Physicians, Family; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012044:Regression Analysis