Educating Primary Care Physicians Regarding Colorectal Cancer Screening

Recent attention in the cancer prevention and control research community has focused on screening for colorectal cancer, with several studies which document its benefits from a mortality point of view. In particular, the primary care physician is faced with several potentially effective strategies for colorectal cancer screening, including fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and double contrast barium enemas. Nonetheless, only 30% or so of eligible adults have been appropriately screened.

The underlying premise of this randomized trial, funded by the American Cancer Society, is that the main barrier to the receipt of appropriate screening is the primary care physician who neglects to make an appropriate recommendation. As a result, Drs. Alfred I. Neugut and Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin, of the Columbia campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital, along with Dr. Alfred Ashford, Director of Medicine at Harlem Hospital Center, and Dr. Rafael Lantigua, Director of the AIM Clinic at NYPH, have conducted several studies over the past decade focused on educating community primary care physicians on the latest tools and guidelines for cancer prevention and control. These studies have used a method called "academic detailing", a technique utilized by pharmaceutical companies for the marketing of their products in order to update primary care physicians.

The current study is a collaboration among investigators at the Presbyterian campus of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and at Harlem Hospital Center along with Dr. Andrew Dannenberg at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell campus and Strang Cancer Prevention Center. Over 200 physicians practicing in New York City have been randomized either to the detailing or no intervention arms, with the primary endpoints representing an improvement in knowledge regarding screening guidelines and the actual rate of screening in the practice.

For further information, contact project coordinator, Grace Hillyer, at 212-305-5067.