A continuous fall of PSA use for prostate cancer screening among Brazilian doctors since 2001. Good or bad notice?

Bibliographic Details
Title: A continuous fall of PSA use for prostate cancer screening among Brazilian doctors since 2001. Good or bad notice?
Authors: Araújo, Fernando Antônio Glasner da Rocha, Sumita, Nairo Massakazu, Barroso Jr., Ubirajara de Oliveira
Source: International braz j urol. June 2019 45(3)
Publisher Information: Sociedade Brasileira de Urologia, 2019.
Publication Year: 2019
Subject Terms: Prostatic Neoplasms, Prostate-Specific Antigen, Mass Screening
More Details: Purpose: To evaluate the trend of use of Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) for screening of prostate cancer (PC) among Brazilian doctors, from the beginning of its regular availability in clinical laboratories. Material and Methods: A serial cross-sectional study was performed using data obtained from a large database between 1997 and 2016. The general PSA screening trend during this period, adjusted for the total number of exams performed in men, was analyzed. Time-series analysis was performed through observation of the general regression curve using the generalized least squares method, and the impact of the recommendations was assessed with autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. Results: During the period studied 2,521,383 PSA determinations were done. The age of the participants ranged from 21 to 111 years, with an average of 56.7 ± 22.7 years. The relative number of PSA tests/100.000 exams in males showed a constant reduction since 2001, and this trend was more evident in the group aged 55-69 years. Although statistically significant, the impact of reduced PSA screening after the 2012 USPSTF publication was clinically irrelevant. Conclusions: Our results indicated a continuous reduction in the use of PSA screening over time, regardless of the publication of recommendations or clinical guidelines. The fact that this trend was more pronounced among those with a greater benefit potential (55-69 years), relative to groups with a greater damage potential due to overdiagnosis and overtreatment (aged >74 years and <40 years), is a matter of concern. Follow-up studies of these trends are advisable.
Document Type: article
File Description: text/html
Language: English
ISSN: 1677-5538
DOI: 10.1590/s1677-5538.ibju.2018.0179
Access URL: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1677-55382019000300478
Rights: info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Accession Number: edssci.S1677.55382019000300478
Database: SciELO
More Details
ISSN:16775538
DOI:10.1590/s1677-5538.ibju.2018.0179
Published in:International braz j urol
Language:English