CANCER PREVENTION BY GENERAL-PRACTITIONER S IN THE RHONE - A DECLARATIVE STUDY

A telephone questionnaire on primary prevention and cancer screening p ractices of general practitioners in the Rhone was administered to a s ample of 191 general practitioners, 129 of which had been randomly sam pled. Questions concerned primary prevention (tobacco, alcohol, diet, exposure to sunlight, occupation) and cancer screening (uterine cervix , breast, colo-rectum prostate, other cancers). in addition, physician s were also interviewed on difficulties encountered in their practice, and about their initial and further medical training in this field. T he response rate was high (85%). According to doctors' responses, smok ing prevention is the best defined primary prevention strategy, unlike alcohol prevention and advice on diet with which physicians seem to h ave more difficulty. We noted a great diversity for screening, even fo r cancers for which a consensus on screening exists (uterine cervix, b reast). For cancers of the colon and prostate the interviewed physicia ns report screening on a wide scale but in many different ways. Analys is of the factors explaining these variations and non-compliance with existing recommendations seems to be necessary as well as studies comp aring in this specific field our results with the actual practices of doctors. This will allow the implementation of well organised, well ta rgeted and efficient primary prevention and screening in which the rol e of the general practitioner is clearly defined.