70 percent of men in UK don’t know to ask for a PSA test
Posted Mar 01 2010 12:00am
According to a poll commissioned by the Prostate Cancer Charity in the UK, 20 percent of British men who meet “at-risk” age criteria and who ask their family doctor for a PSA test have their request turned down.
70 percent of men surveyed in this poll in the UK are not even aware that they have the right to ask for a PSA test.
Men from less affluent backgrounds were less likely to be well informed about the PSA test.
Men from less affluent backgrounds were three times less likely to request a PSA test than men from more affluent groups.
Perhaps understandably, John Neate, chief executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, was not exactly a happy man.
“It is completely unacceptable that so many men at risk of prostate cancer are unaware of their right to request a PSA test,” Neate is quoted as saying.
“We must move swiftly to a position of ‘universal informed choice’ where all men are made aware of their right to request a test and to be given clear information about its usefulness and limitations so they can decide whether having the test is right for them.”
March is prostate cancer awareness month in the UK, so the release of the results of this poll has clearly been timed to promote prostate cancer awareness.
According to a poll commissioned by the Prostate Cancer Charity in the UK, 20 percent of British men who meet “at-risk” age criteria and who ask their family doctor for a PSA test have their request turned down.
This announcement appears in a statement issued earlier today by the Press Association in the UK. It goes on to say that:
Perhaps understandably, John Neate, chief executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, was not exactly a happy man.
“It is completely unacceptable that so many men at risk of prostate cancer are unaware of their right to request a PSA test,” Neate is quoted as saying.
“We must move swiftly to a position of ‘universal informed choice’ where all men are made aware of their right to request a test and to be given clear information about its usefulness and limitations so they can decide whether having the test is right for them.”
March is prostate cancer awareness month in the UK, so the release of the results of this poll has clearly been timed to promote prostate cancer awareness.