Urinary symptoms as a predictor for participation in prostate cancer screening among African American men.
BACKGROUND
There are minimal data on the influence of urinary symptoms and participation in prostate cancer screening in African American men.


METHODS
This correlational study examined the influence of urinary symptoms on 1) participation in a free prostate cancer screening program and 2) abnormal screening results. The 1,402 African American men in the South Carolina Prostate Cancer Project (SCPCP), mean age of 50 years, completed a survey that included self-reported urinary symptoms, participated in a prostate cancer educational program, and received a free prostate cancer screening consisting of a digital rectal examination (DRE) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) from their personal physician.


RESULTS
One in 5 men reported the presence of urinary symptoms. Over 60% of the 1,402 men participated in the free CaP screening. Among the 852 men who participated in the free prostate cancer screening, 73 (8.6%) had abnormal screening results as classified by abnormal DRE and/or PSA >4.0 ng/ml. Urinary symptoms were significant predictors, both of participation in screening (OR = 1.30, CI = 1.00, 1.70) and of obtaining an abnormal screening result (OR = 1.78, CI = 1.17, 2.72).


CONCLUSIONS
Prostate cancer health education needs to include the fact that prostate cancer, in its early stages, has no urinary symptoms.
Weinrich
S P
SP
College of Nursing, University of South Carolina, Columbia 29208, USA. sally.weinrich@sc.edu
Weinrich
M
M
Mettlin
C
C
Reynolds
W A
WA
Wofford
J E
JE
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010808:Physical Examination; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012007:Rectum; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen