What is known?
In Australia, the rates of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing differ depending on whether the areas are remote or have different levels of socio-economic status. However, we don’t know much about the differences within these categories. This study is set out to explore and describe how much variation there is in PSA testing across different small areas in Australia.
What is new?
We used Medicare data involving over 900,000 Australian men aged 50 to 69 who had at least one PSA test between 2017 to 2018.
During 2017-2018, about 26% of men aged 50-79 years had at least one PSA test. This percentage varied substantially by small areas across Australia. Many small areas in southern Victoria and South Australia, south-west Queensland, and some coastal regions of Western Australia had higher testing rates compared to the national average. On the other hand, rates were lower in many areas of Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
What does this mean?
The wide variation in PSA testing rates across small areas in Australia could be due to many reasons including: how easy it is to access healthcare, the advice given by doctors, and what individual men prefer in terms of testing for prostate cancer. If we learn more about these testing patterns in specific subregions and how they connect to health results, we can find better evidence-based approaches to deal with the risk of prostate cancer.
Contact: Peter Baade
Reference: Kohar A, Cramb SM, Pickles K, Smith DP, Baade PD. Spatial patterns of prostate-specific antigen testing in asymptomatic men across Australia: a population-based cohort study, 2017-18. Public Health. 2023;217:173-180