Background
With the aim of increasing benefits and decreasing harms, risk-based breast cancer screening has been proposed as an alternative to age-based screening. This study explores barriers and facilitators to implementing a risk-based breast cancer screening program from the perspective of health professionals, in the context of a National Health Service.
Methods
Socio-constructivist qualitative research carried out in Catalonia (Spain), in the year 2019. Four discussion groups were conducted, with a total of 29 health professionals from primary care, breast cancer screening programs, hospital breast units, epidemiology units, and clinical specialties. A descriptive-interpretive thematic analysis was performed.
Results
Identified barriers included resistance to reducing the number of screening exams for low-risk women; resistance to change for health professionals; difficulties in risk communication; lack of conclusive evidence of the benefits of risk-based screening; limited economic resources; and organizational transformation. Facilitators include benefits of risk-based strategies for high and low-risk women; women’s active role in their health care; proximity of women and primary care professionals; experience of health professionals in other screening programs; and greater efficiency of a risk-based screening program. Organizational and administrative changes in the health system, commitment by policy makers, training of health professionals, and educational interventions addressed to the general population will be required.
Conclusions
Despite the expressed difficulties, participants supported the implementation of risk-based screening. They highlighted its benefits, especially for women at high risk of breast cancer and those under 50 years of age, and assumed a greater efficiency of the risk-based program compared to the aged-based one. Future studies should assess the efficiency and feasibility of risk-based breast cancer screening for its transfer to clinical practice.
This study explored the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of a risk-based breast cancer screening program from the point of view of Spanish health professionals. A cross-sectional study with 220 Spanish health professionals was designed. Data were collected in 2020 via a web-based survey and included the advantages and disadvantages of risk-based screening and barriers and facilitators for the implementation of the program. Descriptive statistics and Likert scale responses analyzed as category-ordered data were obtained. The risk-based screening was considered important or very important to reduce breast cancer mortality and promote a more proactive role for women in breast cancer prevention, to increase coverage for women under 50 years, to promote a breast cancer prevention strategy for women at high risk, and to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Switching to a risk-based program from an age-based program was rated as important or very important by 85% of participants. As barriers for implementation, risk communication, the workload of health professionals, and limited human and financial resources were mentioned. Despite the barriers, there is good acceptance, and it seems feasible, from the perspective of health professionals, to implement a risk-based breast cancer screening program in Spain. However, this poses a number of organizational and resource challenges.
BackgroundThe Literature is no report support material on Shared Decision-making applied to breast cancer screening that is intended for Spanish health professionals. The researcher created both a handbook and a guide for this topic using an adaption of the Three-talk model.ObjectiveA Delphi method will be used to reach an agreement among experts on the contents and design of a manual and guide, designed by the research team, and to be used by health professionals in the application of SDM in breast cancer screening.DesignA qualitative study. The content and design of the handbook and the guide was discussed by 20 experts. The Delphi techniques was in an online mode between July and October 2020 and researchers used Google forms in three rounds with open and closed questions. The criterion established for consensus was a coefficient of concordance (Cc) above 75, for questions using a Likert scale of 1–6—in which 1 meant ‘completely disagree’ and 6 ‘completely agree’—with a cut-off point equal to or higher than 4.ResultsParticipants considered the Three-talk model suitable for the screening context. The handbook sections and level of detail were considered satisfactory (Cc=90). The summary provided by the clinical practice guide was considered necessary (Cc=75), as it was the self-assessment tool for professionals (Cc=85). Content was added: addressing the limitations of the SDM model; extending the number of sample dialogues for health professionals; providing supplementary resources on using Patient Decisions aids and adding references on communication skills.Conclusions and applicationsThe first handbook and clinical practice guide providing unique SDM support material for health professionals have been developed. The handbook and guide are useful and innovative as supporting material for health professionals, but training strategies for SDM and a piloting plan for the use of materials are requested, in order to facilitate its implementation.
Objetivo
Adaptar y validar el instrumento Informed Choice (IC) para la decisión de mamografía al contexto chileno.
Diseño
Estudio transversal, analítico, de adaptación y validación psicométrica.
Emplazamiento
Centro de atención primaria del sector sur oriente de Santiago de Chile.
Métodos
1) traducir y contra-traducir IC; 2) realizar un grupo focal para la relevancia cultural/lingüística; 3) examinar la validez del contenido; 4) pilotar el instrumento; 5) aplicar para validación. Para la consistencia interna se usó el alfa de Cronbach, prueba de esfericidad de Bartlett y la medida de Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin para determinar correlaciones entre las variables y análisis factorial.
Resultados
Se construyeron 3 versiones del IC, modificándose según la opinión de usuarios y expertos. La validación se llevó a cabo en una muestra de 70 mujeres. La edad media fue de 54,4 años, el 47,1% de educación secundaria completa y el 92,9% al menos se había realizado alguna vez una mamografía. Se realizó análisis factorial del IC y se eliminó uno de sus ítems. El alfa de Cronbach final fue 0,79.
Conclusión
El uso de instrumentos de medición requiere de su validación previa ya que la versión original puede variar de acuerdo al contexto cultural donde será aplicado y las necesidades locales particulares. El proceso de validación del IC permite contar con un instrumento confiable para medir la decisión de las mujeres que deben realizarse la mamografía en la dimensión conocimiento, actitud e intención hacia el examen.
RESUMEN: Los estudios de corte transversal (ECT) inician en la década de los 40 en países Europeos. Los ECT corresponden a investigaciones de tipo observacional que permiten estudiar prevalencia de enfermedad, determinar asociación entre variables y el desarrollo de un efecto de interés, conocer propiedades de una prueba diagnóstica, y censar poblaciones; describiendo las características de una población en un momento y lugar determinado. Esto implica, que no se requieren periodos de seguimiento, que no son prospectivos ni retrospectivos; características que permiten que sean más baratos y fáciles de realizar en relación a los estudios longitudinales. Por otro lado, al ser de carácter descriptivo sirven como insumo y evidencia preliminar para estudios de mayor complejidad metodológica, como estudios de cohortes. Sin embargo, tienen limitantes y sesgos que deben ser considerados por los investigadores. El objetivo de este manuscrito fue generar un documento de estudio para revisar características esenciales, fortalezas y debilidades; discutir cuestiones metodológicas de los ECT en ciencias de la salud; y proporcionar algunos ejemplos obtenidos de la literatura, para mejor comprensión del diseño.
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