Prostate specific antigen testing policy worldwide varies greatly and seems not to be in accordance with guidelines: a systematic review.
BMC Fam Pract
; 13: 100, 2012 Oct 11.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23052017
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing is widely used, but guidelines on follow-up are unclear.METHODS:
We performed a systematic review of the literature to determine follow-up policy after PSA testing by general practitioners (GPs) and non-urologic hospitalists, the use of a cut-off value for this policy, the reasons for repeating a PSA test after an initial normal result, the existence of a general cut-off value below which a PSA result is considered normal, and the time frame for repeating a test. Data sources. MEDLINE, Embase, PsychInfo and the Cochrane library from January 1950 until May 2011. Study eligibility criteria. Studies describing follow-up policy by GPs or non-urologic hospitalists after a primary PSA test, excluding urologists and patients with prostate cancer. Studies written in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian or Spanish were included. Excluded were studies describing follow-up policy by urologists and follow-up of patients with prostate cancer. The quality of each study was structurally assessed.RESULTS:
Fifteen articles met the inclusion criteria. Three studies were of high quality. Follow-up differed greatly both after a normal and an abnormal PSA test result. Only one study described the reasons for not performing follow-up after an abnormal PSA result.CONCLUSIONS:
Based on the available literature, we cannot adequately assess physicians' follow-up policy after a primary PSA test. Follow-up after a normal or raised PSA test by GPs and non-urologic hospitalists seems to a large extent not in accordance with the guidelines.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Neoplasias da Próstata
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Padrões de Prática Médica
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Programas de Rastreamento
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Antígeno Prostático Específico
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Guias de Prática Clínica como Assunto
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Fidelidade a Diretrizes
Tipo de estudo:
Guideline
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Prognostic_studies
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Screening_studies
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Systematic_reviews
Limite:
Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article