Perceptions of informed decision making about cancer screening in a diverse primary care population.
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to describe primary care patients' perceptions of informed and shared decision making about cancer screening tests in a diverse sample.


METHODS
We administered a 33-item survey to 467 women and 257 men aged 50 years and older from seven practices in a family medicine practice-based research network. We used ordered logistic regression to assess the relationship between gender, race, education, marital status, and self-rated health with measures of patient-centered care relating to cancer screening tests, controlling for practice site.


RESULTS
Men had greater odds than women of reporting they did not know the benefits of cancer screening (1.46, 95% CI=1.08, 1.99). Compared to white respondents, black respondents reported greater odds of not knowing the benefits (1.70, 95% CI=1.23, 2.36) and risks (1.38, 95% CI=1.00, 1.90) of cancer screening, of not making informed choices (1.50, 95% CI=1.09, 2.07), and that their doctor did not give them some control over their cancer screening tests (1.57, 95% CI=1.12, 2.20). Low education level was also associated with lower perceptions of informed decision making.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with male sex, non-white race, and low education level reported more uncertainty about cancer screening tests and less patient-centered care.
Department of Family Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7595, USA. margaret_gourlay@med.unc.edu
Margaret L
ML
Gourlay
Carmen L
CL
Lewis
John S
JS
Preisser
C Madeline
CM
Mitchell
Philip D
PD
Sloane
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003657:Decision Making; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D004522:Educational Status; D005194:Family Practice / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors