General practitioners' use of risk prediction tools and their application to Barretts Oesophagus : a qualitative study

Ireland, CJ; Laws, TAC; Gordon, AL; Thompson, SK; Esterman, A

Abstract

Background: Risk prediction tools are widely used for the early identification of disease and expediting referrals to medical specialists for further assessment. This study provides an understanding of general practitioners preferences for using some prediction tools over others. The recent development of a risk prediction model for Barrett’s oesophagus prompted our investigation of General Practitioners perspectives of the barriers and enablers to its use and screening tools per se.

Method: Individual semi-structured interviews explored the use of risk prediction tools in the general practice setting. A case scenario was used to create a schema that described the risk assessment process for Barrett’s oesophagus. A content analysis of verbatim transcripts was coded for barriers and enablers to tool use and linked to explanatory themes.


Results: Data was collected from five general practitioners and one gastroenterologist. Barriers to regular use of risk prediction tools were identified and grouped using five themes; time poverty, tool format style, remembering to use, relevance of questions, and reduced autonomy in clinical decision making. Five key reasons for regular use were also identified; simple to use, memory prompt, provides a clear guide, aids in keeping me focused, and easy to access. All participants acknowledged the need for identifying Barrett’s oesophagus, the precursor to oesophageal adenocarcinoma, and viewed our tool as a significant contribution to risk assessment of this condition.


Conclusion: Identifying barriers and enablers is essential to wide implementation of risk prediction tools. Participants provided information crucial to the translation of our risk prediction model for Barrett’s oesophagus into clinical practice. They also confirmed that the developed model would be useful in the clinical setting.

Citation

Ireland, C., Laws, T., Gordon, A., Thompson, S., & Esterman, A. (2018). General practitioners' use of risk prediction tools and their application to Barretts Oesophagus : a qualitative study. Journal of primary health care & general practice, 2(1), 014

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 8, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jan 15, 2018
• Publication Date: Jan 15, 2018
• Deposit Date: Feb 20, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 20, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Primary Health Care and General Practice
• Volume: 2
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 014
• Publisher URL: https://scientonline.org/open-access/general-practitioners-use-of-risk-prediction-tools-and-their-application-to-barretts-oesophagus-a-qualitative-study.pdf
• Related Public URLs: http://scientonline.org/fulltext/general-practitioners-use-of-risk-prediction-tools-and-their-application-to-barretts-oesophagus-a-qualitative-study/21694