Most men without PCa AGREE with the USPSTF

How can you say that most agreed? 54% said they would not follow the recommendations and would be tested.

Only 13% said they wouldn't get tested.  And still a big pool of undecided.

Saying one agrees, yet turning around and then saying they will ignore the recommendations and get tested isn't much "agreement" in my view.

david

Tony, even though the Infolink folks thought the study was "data weak" it's still interesting.

I think the most striking thing for me was the fact that while a majority of men agreed with the USPSTF guidelines, still a majority would get the PSA test themselves. In other words, they felt this was good for "other men" but not for them individually.

At the end of the day I'm not sure the poll really tells us much except that we men tend to "do as I say and not as I do". But my wife could have told you that about our gender...

Jim

@David (Purg),
One of the questions was "Do you agree with the USPSTF recommendation" 62% responded "yes". So I can say that based upon the responses.

@OHWSOBAD,
Tough situation. Your son is high risk and falls outside many standard risk guidelines. What I would do is explain why this is important ~ that he has particularly higher risk than other people his age. And that you love him and that you would feel better if he would pay attention to this. He needs to understand that he indeed live his life out without ever being diagnosed with PCa and that while harms are present in diagnosis and treatment, and that he needs to ultimately make this decision on his own.

@ all,
The study is of under 1200 men in a category of 67 million men. The data is very weak. You could go to other areas of the country and see differing results. So for now it's interesting but not factual.

But I think the trends will hold true. Most men who do have have PCa or have never been tested will reason that the USPSTF is making the recommendations based on their evidence on the harms versus that gains.

Tony

Tony, I understand that 62% said they agreed, but still, 54% didn't agree enough to forgo PSA testing as per the recommendations that they say they agreed to. The fact that only 13% agreed enough to not be tested is more striking. Doesn't sound like they were that convinced as a group. Or am I missing the forest for the trees?

And I think we would all agree, that the opinion of less than 1,200 men on a subject this important with wide spread implications is weak at best. Reminds me of some of the political polls done in the last presidential election cycle.

David

How many men without PCa are sufficiently versed in PCa, screening, treatment and the various recommendations out there?

I thin the opinions of 60 experts on this site carries more weight than that of 1200 men who couldn't even tell you what the prostate is.

Tony,
Perhaps it merely shows the ignorance of most men (myself included) regarding this disease. Purg mentioned politics and it should be noted that our pres and his challenger (Sept 2012) had recent PSA tests..Oh well!
Bill

TC-LasVegas said...
But most men will still get their PSA tests if offered. But I think they need to keep polling.

A survey was posted on the InfoLink today about the USPSTF recommendation calling for an end to PSA screening and it's an interesting perspective. Here's the link:

prostatecancerinfolink.net/2013/08/30/mens-opinions-on-psa-testing-and-the-uspstf-guideline-does-it-apply-to-me/#more-18529

I think this is an important discussion for men here so please help us keep the peace. The emotions are high among PCa survivors on this topic but that's understandable. Also emotions in men unaffected by PCa are low about male disease and that fits the male model ~ most men don't get involved with male disease or cancers until they are affected by it.

Have a great read and look carefully at the data from the survey. I think it's quite interesting.

Tony

Personally I think it is absolutely silly for any medical authority to recommend AGAINST a test that potentially can save a man's life. Makes me wonder if all of this is a quiet way of keeping costs down as the Affordable Healthcare Act begins to materialize.

There is absolutely NO reason for not doing an annual PSA test starting around age 50. The article almost leaves a low informed reader to think that a man must go through the trouble of singularly going in for an exclusive (sole purpose) PSA blood test and interrupt his busy day. And thereby waste his precious time.

It does not make it obvious that the PSA blood test is only one of MANY tests performed from one draw of blood during a standard annual physical. Assuming that EVERY human being really should go in for a standard check-up once a year, it would be silly to NOT simply include a PSA reading along with the other tests.

If they check for various organ functions through the standard blood test, why should PSA NOT be included along with the rest?

The men in this study who tended to say they would follow the recommendation are like many of us were before being DXd with PC -- we knew virtually nothing about it. Then, after getting that DX, we suddenly have direct interest in PC and learn everything we can about it. And every one of those men in the study would do exactly the same thing if they suddenly found PC knocking on their door.

In short, I do not trust these medical organizations and am not convinced that there is not some ulterior motivation for discouraging potentially life saving tests that take no additional time. Especially since the test is easily performed simultaneously with a dozen other tests from a single blood draw.

Chuck

Post Edited (HighlanderCFH) : 8/30/2013 3:27:32 PM (GMT-6)

and the spin continues......sigh

ed

 

What could be the intent of the USPSTF to publish the results of this almost 2-yo survey in a Journal that supports their recommendations?

The survey was done after the USPSTF draft became public in October 11, 2011. At the time and not unlike the response to the USPSTF recommendation about mammography many of PCa activists protested the recommendation. There was some media attention but not much at that time. There was a some noise protesting the recommendation, but since the final document from the USPSTF was not published until May, 2012, the public did not get the full intensity until then. No small wonder that the data is relatively weak. Why not wait to do the survey until the final recommendation became public the following year?

The survey concluded:
"Study findings suggest that consumers are favorably disposed to PSA testing, despite new evidence suggesting that the harms outweigh the benefits. The new USPSTF recommendation against PSA testing in all men may be met with resistance."

1. Let's be clear. Not all men at riak here in the US are ever routinely or asymptomatically tested. The use of PSA in men over 50 is some 54%.

2. The data used to suggest that hams outweigh the benefits was in question then and even more so now.

3. This a a web survey of men aged 40-74. Some 1089 men who did not have PCa are included. What about the responders that had PCa? Why not include them? How many men 40 to 50 know or ever heard of a PSA test? The results then must have been skewed towards older men responding.

4. At the time the draft became available to the public, the task force solicited input at their website. The input was never published...and probably ignored.

Do not think that this survey published almost two years later means a lot...except for the USPSTF to say “we told them and most of them are not listening”.

See an interesting and significant analysis and counter to the USPSTF published draft by one of the authors of the ERSPC screening trial:

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1112140

RalphV

TC, I remember in his mid 40s my husband, prior to diagnosis, was relieved to find out that a blood test was available. Up until the he, and many other Australian men, friends of his, believed that the only screening was an internal examination. He was therefore quite happy from that moment to have a blood test PSA and a few years later, as you know he did at 49.
I think it is possible that men who have limited personal experience or get that experience through someone else would be relieved if someone told them not to do something and that it will all be OK, and that you don't need to know. My husband would have followed this. Prior to Pca he would have believed anything his doctor told him. The least invasive the better etc. With the data in your post I think the opinions of men with no idea of what Pca involves is more or less not credible. It is like asking me to comment on other screening tests when I have never had them or heard of them. In those cases, and there are several screening tests women have too, people rely on their doctor for information as to what to test at various ages.
In summary I agree with Davidg and Gun and Chuck who all raise good ideas.
Just sayin' TC. You know I don't usually get involved in these debates. Cheers, Lana.

Yep Tony. it's all good to know. keeps us on our toes (or heads) depending on which continent we are on. take care! Lana