A population-based assessment of specialty physician involvement in XXXX clinical trials.

@entity5 @entity1 @entity14
BACKGROUND: Clinical trials are critical for evaluating new @entity5 therapies, but few adult @entity1 participate in them. Physicians have an important role in facilitating @entity1 participation in clinical trials. We examined the characteristics of specialty physicians who participate in clinical trials by enrolling or referring @entity1 , the types of trials in which they participate, and factors associated with physicians who report greater involvement in clinical trials. METHODS: We analyzed data from the @entity5 Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium. The study included 1533 specialty physicians who cared for @entity14 @entity1 (496 medical oncologists, 228 radiation oncologists, and 809 surgeons) and completed a survey conducted during 2005-2006 (response rate = 61.0%). Descriptive statistics were used to characterize physicians' personal and practice characteristics, and regression models were used to examine associations between these characteristics and physician participation in clinical trials. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: A total of 87.8% of medical oncologists, 66.1% of radiation oncologists, and 35.0% of surgeons reported referring or enrolling one or more @entity1 in clinical trials during the previous 12 months. The mean number of @entity1 referred or enrolled by these physicians was 17.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 15.5 to 18.9) for medical oncologists, 9.5 (95% CI = 7.7 to 11.3) for radiation oncologists, and 12.2 (95% CI = 9.8 to 14.6) for surgeons (P < .001). Specialty type, involvement in teaching, and affiliation with a Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) and/or a National @entity5 Institute-designated @entity5 center were associated with physician trial participation and enrolling more @entity1 (all Ps < .05). Two-thirds of physicians with a CCOP or National @entity5 Institute-designated @entity5 center affiliation reported participating in trials. CONCLUSIONS: Features of specialty physicians' practice environments are associated with their trial participation, but many physicians at CCOPs and @entity5 centers do not participate.
