Mj. Sladden et Ja. Dickinson, GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS ATTITUDES TO SCREENING FOR PROSTATE AND TESTICULAR CANCERS, Medical journal of Australia, 162(8), 1995, pp. 410-413
Objective: To assess general practitioners' (GPs') perceptions of the
effectiveness of screening for prostate and testicular cancers, and th
eir self-reported levels of screening for these conditions in the ligh
t of the conflicting advice available to GPs, and a lack of evidence t
o support testing for either of these cancers. Design: A questionnaire
sent to all 101 GPs in the Division of General Practice, southern Tas
mania. Results: There was an 82% response rate to the questionnaire, G
Ps had an accurate knowledge of the epidemiology of these cancers, Of
57 GPs who thought that digital rectal examination was an effective sc
reening test for prostate cancer, 56 said they should screen asymptoma
tic patients but only 37 said they actually did screen. The correspond
ing results for prostate-specific antigen screening were 45, 26 and 13
, respectively. For testicular cancer screening, 59 GPs thought that c
linical examination of the testes was an effective screening test, 55
said they should screen asymptomatic patients but only 21 said they ac
tually did screen, Corresponding results for testicular self-examinati
on were 56, 57 and 21, respectively. Conclusions: Many GPs are uncerta
in about the tests available for screening for prostate and testicular
cancers, Some think they should screen, but few do so consistently, C
lear and precise evidence-based guidelines for screening for these con
ditions are necessary.