Predictors of Interest in Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening and the Impact of Informed Consent: What Should We Tell Our Patients?
Section snippets
Methods
Potential predictors of interest in PSA screening were sought by separately analyzing patient characteristics in the intervention and control arms of a randomized controlled trial investigating the impact of an informational intervention on patient interest in the PSA. The study involved 205 men visiting 1 of 4 university-affiliated primary care practices for routine appointments who had never been screened with the PSA. They were randomized to receive either a scripted overview of PSA
Results
The mean age of the 205 study participants was 64.7 years; 37.1% were nonwhite; 68.5% did not graduate from high school; 65.2% had household incomes under $15,000; 15.2% had no health insurance; and 10.3% had a family history of prostate cancer. There were no significant differences between informed (intervention) and uninformed (control) groups for any of these variables.
Table 1 presents the mean interest in PSA screening among the uninformed and informed cohorts for each of the variables that
Discussion
We demonstrated previously that an informed consent discussion about PSA screening decreases interest in such screening among men visiting their primary care physicians.[10] The present study augments this finding by exploring patient factors that predict interest in screening and by discerning how the informed consent process alters these factors. Greater understanding of these predictors could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of doctor-patient communication about prostate cancer
Acknowledgements
This study was supported in part by Grant #IRG-72256 from the American Cancer Society. Dr. Wolf is a recipient of an American Cancer Society Cancer Control Career Development Award for Primary Care Physicians.
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Decision Making in Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening. National Health Interview Survey, 2000
2006, American Journal of Preventive MedicineDecision counseling for men considering prostate cancer screening
2003, Computers and Operations ResearchPotential selection bias in a community-based study of PSA levels in African-American men
2001, Journal of Clinical EpidemiologyCitation Excerpt :Significantly higher rates of participation in the clinical phase occurred in individuals who reported urologic symptoms or a family history of prostate cancer. This observation was consistent with other published reports that men who experience urologic symptoms are more likely to participate voluntarily in prostate cancer screening and clinical prostate cancer research programs [27–29]. Family history of prostate cancer is an important risk factor.
Information and patient participation in screening for prostate cancer
1999, Patient Education and CounselingWhat should men know about prostate-specific antigen screening before giving informed consent?
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