PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Volk, Robert J.
AU  - Spann, Stephen J.
AU  - Cass, Alvah R.
AU  - Hawley, Sarah T.
TI  - Patient Education for Informed Decision Making About Prostate Cancer Screening: A Randomized Controlled Trial with 1-Year Follow-Up
AID  - 10.1370/afm.7
DP  - 2003 May 01
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 22--28
VI  - 1
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/1/1/22.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/1/1/22.full
SO  - Ann Fam Med2003 May 01; 1
AB  - PURPOSE The efficacy of prostate cancer screening is uncertain, and professional organizations recommend educating patients about potential harms and benefits. We evaluated the effect of a videotape decision aid on promoting informed decision making about prostate cancer screening among primary care patients. METHODS A group of 160 men, 45 to 70 years of age, with no history of prostate cancer, were randomized to view or not to view a 20-minute educational videotape before a routine office visit at a university-based family medicine clinic. The subjects were contacted again 1 year after their visit to assess their receipt of prostate cancer screening (digital rectal examination [DRE] or prostate-specific antigen [PSA] testing), their satisfaction with their screening decision, and knowledge retention since the baseline assessment. RESULTS Follow-up assessments were completed for 87.5% of the intervention subjects and 83.8% of the control subjects. The rate of DRE did not differ between the 2 groups. Prostate-specific antigen testing was reported by 24 of 70 (34.3%) intervention subjects and 37 of 67 (55.2%) control subjects (P = .01). African American men were more likely to have had PSA testing (9 of 16, 56.3%) than were white men (13 of 46, 28.3%) (P = .044). Satisfaction with the screening decision did not differ between the study groups. Intervention subjects were more knowledgeable of prostate cancer screening than were control subjects, although these differences declined within 1 year (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Decision aids for prostate cancer screening can have a long-term effect on screening behavior and appear to promote informed decision making.