Previous studies from the USA reported that, in recent years, prostate cancer screening with PSA was very common among the elderly men, including those whose life expectancy was substantially limited by advanced age and known comorbidities.
In 2008, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against PSA screening after age 75. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the USPSTF 2008 recommendation on the frequency of PSA testing among elderly men in the USA. Our findings suggest that the USPSTF recommendation had no major impact on clinical practice.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the frequency of PSA testing in men aged ≥75 years before and after the 2008 US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation to stop prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening at age 75.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were obtained from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys completed in 2006, 2008 and 2010. Men aged ≥ 76 years at the time of survey and without a prostate cancer diagnosis were included in the study. The percentage of men who had a PSA test in the year before the survey was computed separately for survey years 2006, 2008 and 2010.
RESULTS: The estimated percentages of men with a PSA test in the year before the survey were 60% (95% CI: 58-62%), based on 9033 respondents interviewed in 2006, 63% (95% CI: 62-65%), based on 12 063 respondents interviewed in 2008, and 60% (95% CI: 59-61%), based on 14 782 respondents interviewed in 2010.
CONCLUSION: No substantial reduction in the frequency of PSA testing was observed in the BRFSS 2010 survey data compared with the earlier years, suggesting that the USPSTF 2008 recommendation had no major impact on the frequency of PSA testing in older men in the USA.
Written by:
Scosyrev E, Wu G, Golijanin D, Messing E. Are you the author?
Department of Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
Reference: BJU Int. 2012 Mar 27. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2012.11013.x
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 22448649
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