Clinician attitudes towards cancer treatment guidelines in Australia

Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) are designed to guide treatment decisions, yet adherence rates vary widely. To characterise perceived barriers and facilitators to cancer treatment CPG adherence in Australia, and estimate the frequency of previous qualitative research findings, a survey was distributed to Australian oncologists.

The sample is described and validated guideline attitude scores reported for different groups. Differences in mean CPG attitude scores across clinician subgroups and associations between frequency of CPG use and clinician characteristics were calculated; with 48 respondents there was limited statistical power to find differences. Younger oncologists (< 50 years) and clinicians participating in three or more Multidisciplinary Team Meetings were more likely to routinely or occasionally use CPGs. Perceived barriers and facilitators were identified. Thematic analysis was conducted on open-text responses. Results were integrated with previous interview findings and presented in a thematic, conceptual matrix. Most barriers and facilitators identified earlier were corroborated by survey results, with minor discordance. Identified barriers and facilitators require further exploration within a larger sample to assess their perceived impact on cancer treatment CPG adherence in Australia, as well as to inform future CPG implementation strategies. This research was Human Research Ethics Committee approved (2019/ETH11722 and 52019568810127, ID:5688).