Personal and clinical skin cancer prevention practices of US women physicians

Objective: To document physician clinical and personal skin cancer preventi on practices and associated characteristics. Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of a representative sample o f US women physicians. Setting: Mail survey. Subjects: Three thousand thirty-two nondermatologists and 95 dermatologists . Main Outcome Measure: Personal and clinical practices. Results: Twenty-seven percent of nondermatologists counseled or screened th eir typical patients on skin cancer or sunscreen use at least once a year, while 49% did so less frequently, and 24% never counseled or screened at al l. Of the 95 dermatologists, two thirds reported counseling or screening th eir typical patients at every visit. In bivariate analysis of nondermatolog ists, the distribution of counseling or screening was significantly (P<.05) associated with the following personal and professional characteristics: f requent sunscreen use, recent (within 2 years) skin examination, good healt h status, a primary care specialty, self-confidence in counseling or screen ing, extensive training in counseling or screening, high perceived relevanc e to the practice of the counseling or screening, nonurban practice site, a nd nonhospital-based or non-medical school-based practice. We found that 48 % of all physicians always or nearly always used sunscreen, and 25% had rec eived a clinical skin examination in the previous 2 years. Conclusions: Although many primary care physicians report ever counseling o r screening their typical patients about skin cancer and sunscreen use, inc reased professional education for primary care physicians could improve pat ient counseling about skin cancer prevention.