Preferences of elderly men for prostate-specific antigen screening and the impact of informed consent.

BACKGROUND

Use of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a screening test remains highly controversial, particularly in older men. This study was undertaken to assess the impact of information on the preferences of older men for such screening.

METHODS

The elderly cohort (age > or = 65 years) of a larger randomized trial was studied to determine the effect of a 3-minute scripted informational intervention on primary care patients' interest in PSA screening and on potential predictors of screening interest.

RESULTS

Informed patients were significantly less interested in screening than were uninformed patients (p = .006). Informed patients considered PSA screening to be significantly less efficacious than did uninformed patients (p = .004), but among both uninformed and informed patients, perceived efficacy correlated with interest in screening (multivariate OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.5-3.8 for uninformed patients; OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3-3.9 for informed patients). Perceived seriousness of prostate cancer predicted interest in screening among uninformed patients (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.6), but not among informed patients. Informed patients who were married were less interested in screening than those who were single, divorced, or widowed (OR 0.3, 95% CI .08-0.9). Marital status did not predict screening interest among uninformed patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Involving elderly patients in the decision whether to screen with the PSA by providing them with information leads to a significant reduction in interest in such screening. Factors that appear to influence the screening preferences of informed elderly patients include perceived efficacy of screening and marital status, whereas uninformed patients are more likely to weigh the perceived seriousness of prostate cancer in their screening decision.