# How a population-based cohort of men estimate lifetime risk of prostate cancer in a survey before entering a prostate cancer screening trial in Sweden?

## TL;DR

Men in Sweden overestimated their prostate cancer risk before a screening trial, highlighting the need for accurate risk communication.

## Contribution

This study quantifies men's perceived prostate cancer risk and identifies factors influencing their risk estimation.

## Key findings

- The median estimated lifetime risk was 30%, significantly higher than the anticipated 20%.
- Family history and urinary or erectile symptoms were linked to higher risk estimations.
- Most men overestimated their prostate cancer risk, regardless of whether they underwent PSA testing.

## Abstract

Investigating men’s perceived lifetime risk of prostate cancer.

Survey-based study to men invited for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in the GÖTEBORG-2 trial between September 2015 and June 2020.

38 775 men in the Gothenburg area, Sweden, were invited for PSA-testing and participated in a survey.

17 980 men participated in PSA-testing, of whom 13 189 completed the survey. In addition, 1264 men answered the survey only.

Before having the PSA-test, men answered an electronic survey and estimated their lifetime risk of receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis on a visual analogue scale from 0% to 100%.

The primary outcome was the median lifetime risk estimation, which was compared with Wilcoxon test to an anticipated lifetime risk of 20% (based on GÖTEBORG-1 trial). The secondary outcome was to determine factors associated with risk estimation in a multivariable linear regression model: previous prostate examination, family history, physical exercise, healthy diet, comorbidity, alcohol consumption, smoking, education level, marital status, urinary symptoms and erectile dysfunction.

Among PSA-tested men, the median estimated lifetime risk of prostate cancer was 30% (IQR 19% to 50%), corresponding to a 10 percentage-points higher estimation compared with the anticipated risk (p<0.001). Family history of prostate cancer, moderate to severe urinary symptoms and mild to moderate erectile dysfunction were associated with >5 percentage-points higher risk estimation. Similar results were obtained for non-PSA-tested men.

Most men overestimated their prostate cancer risk which underscores the importance of providing them accurate information about prostate cancer.

ISRCTN94604465.