Prostate-specific antigen in a community screening program.
BACKGROUND
This study was designed to determine who participates in community-based prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening programs and what serum PSA levels can be expected.


METHODS
A descriptive analysis of men who participated in an annual community health screening program was used to compare men who chose PSA screening with those who did not. The relationship of demographic variables to PSA level was evaluated by multivariate regression analysis. Data were available on 5548 men, 6% of whom were black.


RESULTS
The population of PSA screening participants included proportionately more middle-aged white men with higher median income, as compared with men who did not participate. Those who did not participate in the screening were more likely to be either very old or very young. PSA levels increased with age, and the percentage of men with elevated PSA levels increased with age. One tenth (9.6%) of all participants had PSAs between 4 ng/mL and 10 ng/mL, and 1.9% had levels greater than 10 ng/mL. Within 1 year of the screening, 1.7% of the screened participants had a diagnosis of prostate cancer. The mean PSA in this group was 15.9 ng/mL.


CONCLUSIONS
These data confirm the need for age-specific PSA reference ranges. It is likely that the same reference range can be used for all racial ethnic populations.
Schwartz
K L
KL
Department of Family Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Kau
T Y
TY
Severson
R K
RK
Demers
R Y
RY
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008824:Michigan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen