Purpose Little is known about physicians' attitudes and knowledge regarding the health care needs of childhood cancer survivors (CCS). We sought to obtain pediatric cancer physicians' self-reported attitudes and knowledge regarding this population. Methods A mailed survey was sent to 1,159 pediatric oncologists in the United States. Results A total of 655 surveys were returned (ie, 57% response rate). Median age of respondents was 47 years (range, 31 to 82 years); 57% were men. Respondents practiced for a median 14 years (range, 1 to 50 years) and reported seeing a median of 21 patients per week (range, 0 to 250 patients per week). When comfort levels in caring for CCS were described (ie, 1 = very uncomfortable; 7 = very comfortable), respondents were most comfortable with survivors ≤ 21 years (mean ± standard deviation, 6.2 ± 1.3 level), were less comfortable (5.0 ± 1.5 level) with those older than 21 years but less than 30 years old, and were uncomfortable with CCS ≥ 30 years (2.9 ± 1.7 level). In response to a clinical vignette of a 29-year-old woman treated with mantle radiation for Hodgkin's lymphoma at 16 years of age, and on the basis of available guidelines, 34% of respondents did not appropriately recommend yearly breast cancer surveillance; 43% of respondents did not appropriately recommend cardiac surveillance; and 24% of respondents did not appropriately recommend yearly thyroid surveillance. Those with greater self-reported familiarity with available long-term follow-up (LTFU) guidelines (odds ratio [OR], 1.33; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.54) and with receipt of training in the care of CCS (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.18 to 2.52) were more likely to have answered all three questions correctly. Conclusion Pediatric oncologists express a range of preferences with regard to LTFU of CCS. Many appear unfamiliar with LTFU surveillance guidelines.
Physician Preferences and Knowledge Regarding the Care of Childhood Cancer Survivors in Japan: A Mailed Survey of the Japanese Society of Pediatric Oncology
