Original articleGeneral practitioners' preferences with regard to colorectal cancer screening organisation Colon cancer screening medico-legal aspects

- This study reveals physicians preferences concerning medico-legal aspects of colorectal cancer screening.
- The results are in line with priorities of the 2009-2013 Cancer Plan.
- This work enlightens authorities for reflection on developing colorectal cancer screening organisation.

ObjectiveFrench health authorities put general practitioners at the heart of the colorectal cancer screening. This position raises organisational issues and poses medico-legal problems for the professionals and institutions involved in these campaigns, related to the key concepts of medical decisions and suitability of standards. The objective of our study is to reveal the preferences of general practitioners related to colorectal cancer screening organisation with regard to the medico-legal riskMethodsA discrete choice questionnaire presenting hypothetical screening scenarios was mailed to 2114 physicians from 20 French different areas. The preferences of 358 general practitioners were analysed using logistic regression models.ResultsThe factors that have significant impact on the preferences of general practitioners are the capacity of the primary care professional in the procedure, the manner in which pre-screening information is given to patients, the manner in which screening results are given to patients, the number of reminders sent to patients who test positive and who do not undergo a colonoscopy and the remuneration of the attending physician.ConclusionsOur results reveals that current colorectal cancer screening organisation is not adapted to general practitioners preferences. This work offers the public authorities avenues for reflection on possible developments in order to optimize the involvement of general practitioners in the promotion of cancer screening programme.