A national survey of attitudes regarding participation in prostate carcinoma testing

The prevalence of prostate carcinoma testing is rapidly changing. Little is known about the frequency of testing in the non-Medicare population in the United States. The current study was conducted for a better understanding of who is being tested and some of the reasons why.

A randomized national telephone survey was administered to 800 men by the George H. Gallup International Institute. Questions in the survey were evaluated for their association with participation in prostate carcinoma testing reported by the men interviewed.

Participation in prostate carcinoma testing approximated the frequency of colon carcinoma testing Eighty-six percent of the men surveyed believed that prostate carcinoma is a serious malignancy, and 78% believed that it could be cured often if detected early. Multivariate logistic regression models identified six factors that increased the likelihood of men in the survey being tested: white race, willingness to be tested, previous conversation with a physician or health professional, having had serum cholesterol tested, having been tested for colon carcinoma, and belonging to successively advanced age groups.

Prostate carcinoma testing is commonly performed in men older than 40 years. Physician counsel and patient prevention consciousness appear to be the major influences when a patient decides to be tested. If early detection is considered beneficial, special efforts would be needed to reach the nonwhite population.