Abstract

PURPOSE:

We investigated whether risk-related feedback delivered by one's primary care physician is associated with self-ratings of risk among women found to have a first-degree family history of breast cancer on office screening questionnaires.

METHODS:

Design: Mailed survey of women registered with the Cancer Genetics Network having a first-degree family history of breast cancer. Eligibility: Completion of primary care-based family history screening within the past year. Independent variable: presence of physician feedback about breast cancer risk. Dependent variable: self-rated breast cancer risk. Modifying variable: trust in one's doctor.

RESULTS:

Three hundred one women met eligibility criteria (73% minimum response rate); feedback was associated with rating one's risk to be "high" in both crude and multivariate analysis. (ORadj = 2.38; 95% CI = 1.30, 4.38). Higher levels of trust in the physician were associated in a dose-dependent fashion with the strength of association between feedback and self-rating one's risk to be high.

CONCLUSIONS:

Physician feedback following the identification of a first-degree family history of breast cancer appears to influence whether or not women categorize themselves to be at high risk and trust is an important modifier of this association.