[Role of general practitioners in cancer screening: A survey in the French armed forces]

The French Military Health Service organizes medical survey of 340,000 military men. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the practices of solid cancer screening of general practitioners in military medical units and to compare the results with the recommendations of the French National Institute of Cancer.

We conducted a prospective, observational study among general practitioners in Army Medical Unit by sending them a self-assessment questionnaire. Physicians should report on their practices for screening cancers with official screening recommendations. Compliance rates with the recommendations were reviewed. Screening practices for other cancers (prostate cancer, melanoma, thyroid cancer, lung cancer, testicular cancer) were assessed.

A total of 133 questionnaires were analyzed. Despite a strong involvement of army general health practitioners, guidelines adherence rates (examination frequency, ages of screening beginning and ending) were of 4% for cervical cancer, 7% for breast cancer, and 37% for colorectal cancer. Those rates are comparable to those reported with civilian general practitioners. For cancers without screening recommendation, practitioners felt highly concerned, especially for the most common cancers among the military population. One third of physicians stated that they had diagnosed a testicular cancer through routine screening.

Military general health practitioners feel themselves concerned by solid cancer screening, and more particularly for cancers that are the most prevalent in young adults. However, current guidelines are neither known nor applied in routine.