title: Prostate cancer screening in men ages 75 and older fell by 8 percentage points after Task Force recommendation.
abstract: In 2008 the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended against screening men ages 75 and older for prostate cancer. Using Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey Access to Care files and linked claims, we compared trends in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing rates between men ages 75 and older and men ages 65-74. We estimate that the revised recommendation led to a 7.9-percentage-point decline in annual PSA testing rates over two years among men ages 75 and older. Although 42 percent of men in this age group continue to receive PSA tests, our results highlight the potential of guidelines with negative recommendations to reduce the use of low-value medical care.
authors: Department of Health Policy and Management, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. david.howard@emory.edu
authors: David H
authors: DH
authors: Howard
authors: Florence K
authors: FK
authors: Tangka
authors: Gery P
authors: GP
authors: Guy
authors: Donatus U
authors: DU
authors: Ekwueme
authors: Joseph
authors: J
authors: Lipscomb
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen