Abstract

Objective: To assess current knowledge and practices around hereditary cancer among family physicians in Colorado.

Methods: We surveyed a random sample of 300 family physicians to assess: knowledge and comfort in management of at-risk patients, use of family history to inform clinical decisions, guidelines used for screening and genetic referrals, and frequency of referrals with and without involvement of genetic counselors. We generated descriptive statistics and compared physicians that reported greater knowledge around management of high risk patients and routine use of family history to inform practices, to those who did not, with respect to demographic and practice characteristics.

Results: A minority of physicians reported high knowledge of hereditary cancer syndromes, recommendations for screening high risk patients, and risk assessment; only 10% reported high level of comfort in referring their patients for genetic risk assessment. Physicians who collected complete family histories were more likely to report high knowledge about hereditary cancer, and to use family history to guide recommendations. Few physicians reported using recommendations from organizations focused on high risk patients

Conclusions: Physician-focused education initiatives should focus on raising awareness of hereditary cancer syndromes in primary care settings, use of risk-appropriate guidelines, and the importance of collecting comprehensive family histories to identify patients at risk.

Keywords: Hereditary cancer syndromes; Physician knowledge and practice; Family history