What cancer screening programmes are there in different European countries, and how are General Practitioners involved in them? A European survey.

Ilze Skuja, Robert Hoffman, Emmanouil Smyrnakis, Gergana Atanasova, Dimitra Iosifina Papageorgiou, Krzystof Buczkowski, Marija Petek Šter, Nicola Buono, Aida Puia, Mercè Marzo-Castillejo, Zlata Ozvacic Adzic, Bernardino Oliva Fanlo, Marija Zafirovska, Hans Thulesius, Michael Harris

Keywords: General Practitioners, Cancer, Screening, Europe

Background:

Cancer screening programmes vary considerably across Europe, and this affects cancer survival. While general practitioners (GPs) are part of the cancer screening process in some countries, they appear to have little involvement in others. However, there has been little comparison of cancer screening programmes in different European countries, and nothing is known about the effect that these have on GPs’ workloads.

Research questions:

What cancer screening programmes are there in different European countries, and how are GPs involved in them?

Method:

A questionnaire will ask three key informants in each of twenty European countries for information about their cancer screening programmes, and for details about GP involvement in them. Each countries’ answers will be compared for agreement, and inconsistencies will be referred back to the informants for resolution. The research team will compare and contrast the responses from the different countries.

Results:

We will present the study protocol and the findings of the pilot study. Any preliminary results will also be presented.

Conclusions:

Our previous research has identified that many European GPs see the implementation of cancer screening programmes as being a key priority for their countries’ healthcare systems. This study will describe the cancer screening work that GPs in each country are doing, and allow countries to compare their progress in setting up cancer screening programmes.

Points for discussion:

The study will generate a lot of data. What methods are best suited for data analysis?

Do you think the results from this study will be useful for your country?

Would you like to participate in the study?