NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The stress and anxiety associated with receiving results of a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test for prostate cancer is not relieved by using rapid PSA tests, but men still prefer to have their results quickly, results of a study indicate.
Waiting for PSA results often creates anxiety for patients and their families because of the potential implications, researchers explain. Dr. Simon Wilkinson from Weiss Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois and colleagues investigated whether reporting PSA results within 15 minutes of obtaining the blood sample would cause less anxiety to patients than reporting the results 1 or 4 days later.
The team assigned 67 men to rapid PSA testing, facilitating discussion with the physician while in the clinic, and 121 to conventional testing with results delivered by telephone.
More than 91 percent of patients said they never felt nervous about going for a PSA test, and measurements of mood and mental health at the beginning of the study were "good" or better in a similar percentage.
After PSA testing, more than 90 percent of patients continued to report good or better mood, regardless of group assignment, the researchers note.
Most patients in the rapid test group (57 percent) said that waiting at least 24 hours for a PSA result would be uncomfortable, and 89 percent of all patients said the rapid PSA test would be preferred to the delayed test at future appointments.
Patients who preferred the rapid PSA test said it was more convenient (57 percent) and they liked that it gave them time to talk with their doctor about the results (73 percent), the investigators report.
"There appear to be no drawbacks of having a rapid PSA test as it is no more expensive than a standard laboratory test," Wilkinson and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: Urology May 2008.
