Influence of publication of US and European prostate cancer screening trials on PSA testing practices

Abstract

In 2009, results from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial indicated no difference in mortality between the screening and the control groups (rate ratio = 1.13, 95% confidence interval = 0.75 to 1.70), whereas those from the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer trial indicated a 20% reduction in mortality among the screening group (rate ratio = 0.80, 95% confidence interval = 0.65 to 0.98). In this study, we examined whether prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing has changed following these publications. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of men seen at least once in a primary care or urology clinic between August 1, 2004, and March 31, 2010, who received a PSA test. Following the publications, PSA use declined slightly-by 3.0 percentage points and 2.7 percentage points among men aged 40-54 and 55-74 years, respectively. PSA testing among men older than 75 years initially declined slightly following the recommendations by the US Preventive Services Task Force in 2008 and continued to decline after the trial publications.