title: Perceptions of radiation oncologists and urologists on sources and type of evidence to inform prostate cancer treatment decisions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To perform a national survey of radiation oncologists and urologists about the type of resources used and the level of evidence needed to change clinical practice in localized prostate cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  From a random sample, 1422 physicians were mailed a survey assessing the types of information used and what level of evidence could alter their clinical practice in prostate cancer. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify differences in physician characteristics for each outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Survey response rates were similar for radiation oncologists and urologists (44% vs 46%; P=.46). Specialty-specific journals represented the most commonly used resource for informing the clinical practice for radiation oncologists (65%) and urologists (70%). Relative to radiation oncologists, urologists were less likely to report utilizing top-tier medical journals (25% vs 39%; adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.50; P=.01) or cancer journals (22% vs 51%; adjusted OR 0.50; P<.001) but more likely to rely on clinical guidelines (46% vs 38%; adjusted OR 1.6; P=.006). Both radiation oncologists and urologists most commonly reported large randomized, clinical trials as the level of evidence to change treatment recommendations for localized prostate cancer (85% vs 77%; P=.009).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both specialties rely on their own specialty-specific journals and view randomized, clinical trials as the level of evidence needed to change clinical practice. Our study provides a context on meaningful ways of disseminating evidence for localized prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Care Policy and Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Leona C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delpe
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Care Policy and Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Nilay D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: HealthPartners, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Jeanette Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ziegenfuss
authors.affiliation: Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Biomedical Ethics Program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Jon C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tilburt
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: R Jeffrey
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Karnes
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Paul L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Cancer Outcomes and Public Policy Effectiveness Research Center, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Cary P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Cancer Outcomes and Public Policy Effectiveness Research Center, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; Department of Radiation Oncology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Quoc-Dien
authors.initials: QD
authors.lastname: Trinh
authors.affiliation: Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes, University of Montreal Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Maxine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Division of Urology, Alfred Hospital, Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Weranja K B
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Ranasinghe
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; Cancer Outcomes and Public Policy Effectiveness Research Center, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Electronic address: simkim@me.com.
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014572:Urology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data