[What do men between 50 and 70 know about the effectiveness, the benefits, and the risks of prostate cancer...

To evaluate the understanding of the population on prostate cancer screening.

Descriptive study.

Primary care teams in the province of Barcelona, Spain, from april to september 2005.

Men between 50 and 70 years old without prostate symptoms and seen in the clinics of 12 primary care teams.

Systematic sample.

age, marital status, educational level, and self-perceived health status. Appraisal of knowledge through a 14-question questionnaire referring to the key ideas, previously defined by a group of experts, requisite before deciding on prostate cancer screening.

N=221. Mean age, 59.9 (SD, 5.9); educational level, primary or lower: 63.4%; 89.1% (95% CI, 84.4-92.6) did not have sufficient knowledge about prostate cancer screening. In the questions on what PSA is and what it is for, over 50% said they did not know; 63.3% recognised that prostate cancer was a highly prevalent illness; 84.6% replied that early detection of prostate cancer avoids deaths; 49.8% did not know whether the doctor had doubts on this question; and 38.9% thought he didn't. There were no differences in knowledge for any of the variables studied.

Although prostate cancer screening is widely known about, the information of the population is scant and often wrong. Existing scientific uncertainty on the use of screening is the aspect that is least known by users.