The PSA Dilemma for Men

The American Cancer Society’s new recommendations concerning PSA (prostate specific antigen) testing has met with some approval and some resistance from authorities such as the American Urological Association and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.  The thrust of the proposals is that the patient should decide, together with his doctor, whether to have regular PSA testing after a certain age.  This may put a burden on patients that many are ill-equipped to assume.     

Health Dialog, a provider of healthcare analytics and decision making, has decided to make its support tools on prostate cancer available on their website, free until the end of March.  This is a way for men to get up to speed on the benefits and drawbacks of using PSA test screening before they consult their doctor (or afterwards, if they are still confused!).  I can recommend the company’s Shared Decision Making Aid® for this purpose; it should answer most questions. But remember, after this month, there would be a charge.