A national survey of radiation oncologists and urologists on recommendations of prostate-specific antigen screening for prostate cancer Journal Article uri icon
Overview
abstract
  • OBJECTIVE: To assess recommendations for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in a national survey of radiation oncologists and urologists following the recent USA Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) grade D recommendation. METHODS: A random sample of 1366 radiation oncologists and urologists were identified from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. From November 2011 to April 2012, a mail survey was sent to query PSA screening recommendations for men at average risk of prostate cancer for the following age groups: 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-74, 75-79 and >/=80 years. Multivariable logistic regression was used to test for differences in PSA-based screening recommendations by physician characteristics. RESULTS: Response rates were similar at 52% for radiation oncologists and urologists (P = 0.92). Overall, 51.5% of respondents recommended PSA-based screening for men aged 40-49 years, while nearly all endorsed it for those aged 50-74 years (96.1% for 50-59, 97.3% for 60-69, and 87.7% for 70-74 years). However, screening recommendations decreased to 43.9% and 12.8% for men aged 75-79 and >/=80 years, respectively. On multivariable analysis, urologists were more likely to recommend screening for men aged 40-49 (odds ratio [OR] 3.09; P < 0.001) and 50-59 years (OR 3.81; P = 0.01), but less likely for men aged 75-79 (OR 0.66; P = 0.01) and >/=80 years (OR 0.45; P = 0.002) compared with radiation oncologists. CONCLUSION: While radiation oncologists and urologists recommended PSA screening for men aged 50-69 years, there was less agreement about screening for younger (40-49 years old) and older (>/=70 years) men at average risk for prostate cancer.

  • Link to Article
    publication date
  • 2014
  • published in
  • BJU International  Journal
  • Research
    keywords
  • Physician's Practice Patterns
  • Practice Guidelines
  • Prostatic Cancer
  • Questionnaires
  • Radiography
  • Screening
  • Additional Document Info
    volume
  • 113
  • issue
  • 5b