AIMS: To study the experience of general practitioners in Otago and Southland with the existing @entity0 screening programme and the reviews on future programmes. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to all 210 general practitioners in Otago and Southland in June 1996. RESULTS: The response rate was 71%. All the 141 respondents except one encouraged eligible @entity1 to take part in the programme; this was done mainly during individual doctor- @entity1 consultations, by pamphlets and posters, and in the work of the practice nurse. Ten percent of practitioners had a practice-based recall system for @entity0 screening. Seventy-five percent of general practitioners currently provide a list of eligible @entity1 to the programme, and of these, 52% check the list to exclude ineligible @entity1 . Only 24% of practitioners supplying a @entity1 list to the programme reported that a @entity1 had ever requested that their name be excluded from the list. Twenty-five percent of general practitioners providing lists had a notice in the waiting room stating that. Of those who did not provide lists, concerns about logistics, ethical issues and cost were raised, although 40% of these general practitioners intended to provide lists in the future. In a future programme, 57% of general practitioners felt they should be paid for supplying lists defined by age only and 82% felt they should be paid for supplying a list of @entity1 eligible by both age and medical history. Most general practitioners felt that general practitioner lists were the preferred source for invitations to the breast screening programme and that general practitioners had an important part in any future programme. Screening at the ages 50-64 (as currently proposed) is supported by 95% of general practitioners; in addition, 64% supported screening at ages 65-69. Only a minority of general practitioners supported screening at ages 40-49 or ages 70-74. Most general practitioners would offer screening to @entity1 under age 50 with either a strong or a weak family history, or even with a past history of a @entity1557 . CONCLUSIONS: These results show that almost all general practitioners support @entity0 screening programmes and feel that they have an important role in future programmes. The majority support extension of the programme to ages 65-69, but not to ages 40-49. The majority support screening @entity1 with individual risk factors at ages under 50, although their responses show that better information on the importance of different risk factors is required.

The general practitioner's role in XXXX screening: a survey in Otago-Southland.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patient', 'women'] @entity0 :: ('MESH:D001943', 'Disease') :: ['breast cancer'] @entity1557 :: ('MESH:D018226', 'Disease') :: ['fibroadenoma']
@entity0 :: (MESH:D001943,Disease) :: ['breast cancer']
