Routine neonatal circumcision: the gap between contemporary policy and practice

Attitudes, knowledge, and personal factors related to circumcision in the newborn period were analyzed among a group of 92 randomly selected primary care physicians and 103 parents of male infants. Sixty-five percent of the physicians conveyed a positive attitude about routine neonatal circumcision to their patients; pediatricians were more likely to have a neutral attitude, and both family and general practitioners were more likely to encourage routine neonatal circumcision (P less than .01). Routine neonatal circumcision was favored more often by older, male, and circumcised physicians. Knowledge about the normal anatomy of the infants' foreskin was inadequate. Parents rarely perceived physicians as influential in the decision-making process (P less than .001). In contrast, fathers' circumcision status and parental belief in medical indications were positively related to the decision to circumcise (P less than .001 and P less than .01, respectively). The data suggest directions for change in clinical pediatric practice that may bring contemporary policy with regard to routine neonatal circumcision closer to actual practice.