[Occupational physicians and occupational cancers: attitudes, opinions, practices. A qualitative study in South...

A qualitative study was conducted in 2008 of occupational physicians (OPs) in south-eastern France to document their attitudes, opinions and practices on prevention and screening of occupational cancers. This was done to provide elements to prepare the questionnaire of a quantitative study in 2009.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted using a structured interview guide with 20 OPs. The data collected were subjected to an analysis of thematic content type.

The analysis revealed that OPs face many difficulties when preventing occupational cancers. For most of OPs, these difficulties appeared related to "external factors": lack of involvement of employers and minimization of risks by employers and employees. Lack of time, overload and, for some OPs, perceived lack of independence towards employers, were also mentioned as barriers to cancer prevention. This study also suggested hypotheses related to OPs themselves (internal factors): perceived lack of effectiveness and, trend to minimize the risks of occupational cancer in their geographical area. Finally, the results suggest a significant heterogeneity of OPs' practices regarding occupational cancer screening.

These results raise several hypotheses that will be addressed further in the quantitative survey. They warn about the difficulties of a profession that seems to encounter a demographic and identity crisis.