A case-control study of treatment choices made by doctors diagnosed with early XXXX .

@entity1 @entity5 @entity0
INTRODUCTION: Doctors who are diagnosed with @entity0 form a small subset of @entity1 with unique insight into their disease. The aim of this study was to compare key treatment decisions in medically-qualified doctors with equivalent degree-educated, matched controls diagnosed with early @entity0 . METHODS: @entity1 diagnosed with @entity0 between 01/01/2006 and 31/12/2011 were included and screened for occupation by 2 independent investigators. Allied health professionals with a medical background (e.g. nurses, physiotherapists) were excluded. @entity1 controls were matched by age, nodal status and grade. If there were more than 5 possible matches then those @entity1 with the closest @entity5 size were selected. RESULTS: 5259 of 8623 @entity1 had signed the generic research consent form. 619 of these were either doctors, or had received tertiary level education and could form appropriate controls. After exclusions, 46 medically-qualified doctors and 230 matched control @entity1 were included in the analysis. No statistical differences in age or @entity5 characteristics were identified between doctors with @entity0 and matched controls. No differences were identified between the two groups in the uptake of mastectomy, chemotherapy, immediate breast reconstruction or post-mastectomy radiotherapy. CONCLUSION: Medically-qualified @entity1 diagnosed with early @entity0 are no more likely to opt for mastectomy, chemotherapy, immediate breast reconstruction or post-mastectomy radiotherapy than non-medically-qualified controls. The level of information generally provided to @entity1 with @entity0 is adequate for a similar decision to be made by control @entity1 with equivalent levels of education, independent of any knowledge of pathology or understanding of the medical system that medically-qualified @entity1 may possess.
