Adherence to ovarian cancer screening guidelines may be lower among physicians with nonprofessional cancer experience

A new study has found that physicians with nonprofessional experience of cancer were less likely to report adhering to recommendations against screening for ovarian cancer compared with physicians without this experience. Reported adherence to ovarian cancer screening guidelines was defined as almost never ordering or offering ovarian cancer screening tests for an asymptomatic patient at average risk for ovarian cancer. The study findings are presented in an article published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Margaret Ragland, MD, MS and colleagues from the University of Washington (Seattle) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA) coauthored the article entitled, "Physician Nonprofessional Cancer Experience and Ovarian Cancer Screening Practices: Results from a National Survey of Primary Care Physicians." They conducted a survey of US physicians who provide primary care to women and examined the association between physicians' experience with cancer in a nonprofessional setting and reported adherence to ovarian cancer screening guidelines. The researchers indicate that strategies need to be developed to ensure that the ovarian cancer screening practices of physicians with nonprofessional experience of cancer reflect evidence-based recommendations.

"Screening for ovarian cancer is not recommended for asymptomatic average-risk women, and offering or ordering non-recommended screening exposes these women to unnecessary risk," states Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health and Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA. "The findings of this study emphasize the need for physicians to be aware of factors that may influence their screening practices and to ensure that all physicians adhere to ovarian cancer screening guidelines."

Source: https://home.liebertpub.com/news/physicians-with-nonprofessional-cancer-experience-less-likely-to-report-adherence-to-ovarian-cancer-screening-guidelines/2412