Development and pilot testing of an online screening decision aid for men with a family history of prostate cancer.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to develop and pilot test an online screening decision aid (DA) for men with a family history of prostate cancer.


METHODS
Eligible men (with no previous prostate cancer diagnosis) were recruited through relatives attending a urology outpatient clinic. Men evaluated the DA in two stages. First, they appraised a paper-based version using a questionnaire (n=22). Second, the same men were asked to reflect on an interactive web-based version via a semi-structured telephone interview (n=20).


RESULTS
Men evaluated both forms of the DA positively. Of the paper-based version, the majority of participants found the DA useful (91%), and that it contained enough information to make a screening decision (73%). All participants reported that the online DA was easy to use and navigate. Most participants reported that a website was their preferred mode of receiving prostate cancer screening information (70%).


CONCLUSIONS
The developed DA may represent the first online decision-making tool designed specifically for men with a family history prostate cancer that presents age and risk specific information to the user.


CONCLUSIONS
Comprehensive evaluations of the efficacy and impact of educational interventions such as this are crucial to improve services for individuals making informed screening decisions.
Wakefield
Claire E
CE
Psychosocial Research Group, Department of Medical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia. c.wakefield@unsw.edu.au
Watts
Kaaren J
KJ
Meiser
Bettina
B
Sansom-Daly
Ursula
U
Barratt
Alex
A
Mann
Graham J
GJ
Lobb
Elizabeth A
EA
Gaff
Clara L
CL
Howard
Kirsten
K
Patel
Manish I
MI
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003657:Decision Making; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008390:Markov Chains; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen