Economics of screening for carcinoma of the prostate.

The proposition of whether to adopt a system of mass screening for carcinoma of the prostate in the U.S. is well suited to the clinical decision analysis approach. The authors demonstrate this by using available data, which suggest that offering a screening program to all men ages 50 to 70 would be prohibitively expensive. The method also permits calculation of the eventual morbidity of screening and its costs. This analysis demonstrates the importance of attempting to predict ultimate patient outcomes before implementing any health care strategy as standard.