MedWire News: Men with a family history of prostate cancer are more likely to attending screening if they are married or living with someone than if they live alone, US scientists have discovered.
Five-year survival rates for prostate cancer are dramatically improved by early detection. However, it is not know what psychosocial factors affect men’s likelihood of taking up prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and digital rectal examination (DRE).
To investigate further, Lauren Wallner, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues collated data from the Olmsted County Study Urinary Symptoms and Health Status for 2447 men randomly selected in 1990 for whom there was information on family history of prostate cancer, prostate cancer concerns, marital status, and medical and laboratory records.
The researchers note in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention that frequent screening was defined as the upper 25th percentile for the number of DREs and PSA tests, at over 4 and 3 examinations, respectively.
The men were aged a median of 51.9 years, and 85.0% were married or living with someone. A family history of prostate cancer was recorded for 9.4% of the patients, while 10.3% reported worry or concern about prostate cancer.
Multivariate analysis indicated that men with a family history of prostate cancer were more likely to have frequent screening than those without, at an odds ratio (OR) of 1.4. In addition, worry or concern about prostate cancer significantly increased the likelihood, at an OR of 1.5.
Being married or living together was significantly associated with frequent prostate cancer screening, at an OR of 1.2.
Among cohabiting men with a history of prostate cancer, the likelihood of frequent screening was increased compared with cohabiting men without a family history, an OR of 1.7. Men living alone who had a family history of prostate cancer had a significantly reduced likelihood for frequent screening than those without a family history, at an OR of 0.6.
“Among men with a family history of prostate cancer, those who were married or living with someone were more likely to get screened compared with men who were not, suggesting a role for marital status in influencing screening behaviour,” the researchers write.
Free abstract
