A NATIONAL SURVEY OF ATTITUDES REGARDING PARTICIPATION IN PROSTATE CARCINOMA TESTING

BACKGROUND. The prevalence of prostate carcinoma testing is rapidly ch anging. Little is known about the frequency of testing in the non-Medi care population in the United States. The current study was conducted for a better understanding of who is being tested and some of the reas ons why. METHODS. A randomized national telephone survey was administe red to 800 men by the George H. Gallup International Institute. Questi ons in the survey were evaluated for their association with participat ion in prostate carcinoma testing reported by the men interviewed. RES ULTS. Participation in prostate carcinoma testing approximated the fre quency of colon carcinoma testing. Eighty-six percent of the men surve yed believed that prostate carcinoma is a serious malignancy, and 78%, believed that it could he 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 profess ional, having had serum cholesterol tested, having been tested for col on carcinoma, and belonging to successively advanced age groups. CONCL USIONS. 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 he tested. If early detection is considered beneficial, special efforts would he needed to reach the nonwhite population. (C) 1996 American Cancer Soc iety.