Impact of choosing wisely on imaging in men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer

Encouraging the appropriate use of staging imaging in patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer remains a challenge. Assessing the effects of national efforts may help guide future initiatives in curtailing low-value care. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the Choosing Wisely campaign on imaging utilization among men with prostate cancer.

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results - Medicare data were used to complete a longitudinal population-based study of men diagnosed with prostate cancer from 2007 to 2015. An interrupted time series analysis evaluated the impact of the Choosing Wisely campaign on trends of imaging utilization.

From 2007 to 2015 imaging utilization in low-risk patients decreased, with computed tomography (CT) usage declining from 45.0% to 34.4% (P<0.001) and nuclear medicine bone scan (NMBS) from 27.8% to 11.7% (P<0.001). Choosing Wisely likely contributed to an absolute reduction of 2.9% (P=0.03) in utilization of NMBS in the low-risk population. Imaging usage for all modalities increased in the high-risk population, but with 32.8% continuing to not receive guideline-supported imaging.

In 2012, the Choosing Wisely campaign sought to decrease inappropriate staging imaging for men with low-risk prostate cancer and encourage stewardship of medical resources. Overall decreases in staging imaging trends suggest a move towards higher value care. However, this study found that the Choosing Wisely recommendations had a modest impact on utilization of NMBS, but not CT or PET scans. These results may help inform future efforts to promote guideline concordant imaging.