State rurality does not increase risk of prostate cancer death.

Abstract

119 Background: Prostate cancer is the third most common cancer among men. PSA based screening for prostate cancer was introduced in the 1980s and resulted in a significant decline in prostate cancer mortality. Current AUA guidelines recommend PSA screening in average risk patients between the ages of 55 and 69. There are public health concerns in rural areas of the United States (US) potentially due to decreased access of care. In this study, we sought to evaluate the prevalence of prostate cancer screening and death rate in rural communities within the US. Methods: After IRB approval, data was collected from several different sources. Annual prostate cancer death rate (2011-2015) was obtained from the American Cancer Society. Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System regarding prostate cancer screening during this time interval was acquired. Data regarding populations was obtained from the US Census. Descriptive analyses were used to describe the population and Pearson Correlation Coefficient to determine screened, death rates and rurality correlations. All analyses were completed using SPSS. Results: The median percent of US population residing in rural and urban areas was 25.8% (IQR 22.1%) and 73.8% (IQR 22.1%), respectively. The median percent of male patients screened using PSA 50 years and older was 56.2% (IQR 7.0%). The median death rate (per 100,000) from prostate cancer per state was 19.5 (IQR 1.7%). Prostate cancer death rate was found to have no correlation to percent of population screened (p = 0.29) and percent rurality (p = 0.98). The percent rural population versus percent of screened men over the age of 50 was also not significant (p = 0.20). Conclusions: Neither death rate nor screening rate for prostate cancer using PSA demonstrated a significant association with the percent of patient’s living in rural communities. This is evidence that within the US, rural communities are following guidelines for PSA screening for prostate cancer and therefore there is no discrepancy in prostate cancer death in these areas compared to urban. This study is evidence that the barriers that may be associated with living in rural communities, such as decreased access to healthcare do not translate into worse outcomes related to prostate cancer.