Wray RJ, Nicks SE, Adsul P, Elliot M, Enard K, Jupka K, Trainer AK, Hansen N, Shahid M, Wright-Jones R, Siddiqui S. Promoting informed prostate cancer screening decision-making for African American men in a community-based setting.
Cancer Causes Control 2022;
33:503-514. [PMID:
35091864 DOI:
10.1007/s10552-021-01544-9]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE
Current screening guidelines for prostate cancer (PCa) encourage men to make individual screening decisions after consulting with their primary care provider to weigh the risks and benefits of undergoing prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing, but many men at high risk of PCa diagnosis (notably African American men) are more likely to be uninsured and lack a primary care provider. An academic-community partnership redesigned its community-based screening program to ensure access to services for African American men, incorporating a session with a trained clinical educator in community settings, designed to increase knowledge and promote informed decision-making regarding PSA testing. This study evaluated effects of the intervention on decision-making outcomes.
METHODS
To evaluate program efficacy, 88 men completed pre- and post-test surveys assessing outcomes of interest.
RESULTS
Participants' knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, anxiety levels, and self-efficacy all improved from pre- to post-test at a statistically significant level. Most notably participants' awareness that PCa is often not life-threatening, and watchful waiting is a reasonable treatment option increased after the encounter. More than half of the study sample felt they had received enough knowledge to make an informed decision about whether the PSA test was right for them.
CONCLUSION
Our findings show the program had positive effects on men's ability to make informed decisions about PCa screening and demonstrate that educational outreach programs with an emphasis on informed decision-making can effectively balance screening guidelines with the needs of underserved populations in community settings to improve outcomes.
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