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Brief report: Physicians and their personal prostate cancer-screening practices with prostate-specific antigen

A national survey

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is inconclusive evidence that prostate cancer screening with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) reduces mortality. Although PSA testing is widespread, it is unknown how many physicians have taken the PSA test themselves.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of PSA testing among physicians.

DESIGN: Cross-section survey.

SUBJECTS: A nationwide stratified random sample of urologists (response rate 61%, n=247), Internists (response rate 51%, n=273), and family physicians (response rate 64%, n=249) were surveyed by mail in 2000. After excluding female respondents and men who either reported a positive history of prostate cancer or did not respond to that query, there were 146 urologists, 96 Internists, and 118 family physicians.

MEASUREMENTS: Whether physicians had undergone prostate cancer screening with PSA.

RESULTS: Eighty-seven percent (155/178) of male physicians aged, 50 and older and 21% (31/150) of white male physicians under age 50 reported having had a PSA test. More urologists than nonurologists in both age groups reported having had a screening PSA test.

CONCLUSION: Most physicians aged 50 and older report undergoing PSA testing. This may reflect a belief in its efficacy and contribute to its widespread use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Ethics, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Texas-Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin, 1.122 MSB, 77030, Houston, TX

    Evelyn C. Y. Chan MD, MS

  2. General Medicine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Michael J. Barry MD

  3. Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, The University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA

    Sally W. Vernon PhD

  4. Biometry, Division of General Internal Medicine, The University of Texas-Houston Medical School, Houston, TX, USA

    Chul Ahn PhD

Authors
  1. Evelyn C. Y. Chan MD, MS
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  2. Michael J. Barry MD
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  3. Sally W. Vernon PhD
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  4. Chul Ahn PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Evelyn C. Y. Chan MD, MS.

Additional information

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

This study was funded by National Cancer Institute grant K08-CA78615, awarded to Dr. Chan as a clinical scientist award. Additional support was provided by Centers for Disease Control/Association of Schools of Public Health, grant #S1171-19/20, and NIH grant M01-RR02558, the Clinical Research Center at the University of Texas-Houston.

Contributions of Authors: Dr. Chan and Dr. Barry participated in the conceptualization of the study, and with Dr. Vernon and Dr. Ahn designed the study and analyzed the data. All authors had access to all data in the study and held final responsibility for the decision to submit this work for publication. All authors approved of the final version.

Conflict of Interest Statement for Authors: The authors declare that they had no financial or personal conflicts of interest that could have inappropriately biased this study. Dr. Chan had full access to all data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit this manuscript for publication.

Ethics Approval: The authors obtained institutional board review approval from the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at the University of Texas-Houston Health Sciences Center, Houston, TX, U.S.A., to conduct the study.

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Chan, E.C.Y., Barry, M.J., Vernon, S.W. et al. Brief report: Physicians and their personal prostate cancer-screening practices with prostate-specific antigen. J Gen Intern Med 21, 257–259 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00327.x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00327.x

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