Genetic testing for an inherited susceptibility to @entity5 is an emerging technology in medical practice. Little information is currently available about physicians' attitudes toward these tests. To assess US physicians' opinions on unresolved issues surrounding genetic testing, a 15-min survey was administered to a stratified random sample of 1,251 physicians from 8 specialties, selected from a file of all licensed physicians in the US (response rate = 71.0%). Dependent measures included physicians' attitudes toward genetic counseling and testing qualifications, availability of guidelines, @entity1 confidentiality and insurance discrimination issues, and clinical utility of genetic tests. More than 89% of physicians reported a need for physician guidelines, 81% thought that @entity1 with positive genetic test results are at risk for insurance discrimination, and more than 53% thought that it was difficult to ensure the confidentiality of test results. Almost 25% indicated that genetic tests for @entity5 susceptibility have too many inaccurate or ambiguous results; nearly 75% thought that clear guidelines are not available for managing @entity1 with positive test results. Only 29% of physicians reported feeling qualified to provide genetic counseling to their @entity1 . More than 84% of oncologists considered themselves qualified to recommend genetic testing to their @entity1 compared with 40% of primary care physicians (PCPs), and 57% of tertiary care physicians (TCPs). US physicians expressed great uncertainty about issues surrounding genetic testing for @entity5 susceptibility. Results of this national survey underscore the need to provide physicians with clear guidelines on the use of genetic @entity5 susceptibility tests and effective medical training on their appropriate implementation.

US physicians' attitudes toward genetic testing for XXXX susceptibility.

@entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['cancer'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient']
@entity5 :: (MESH:D009369,Disease) :: ['cancer']
