Deaf Men Less Engaged in Shared Decision Making for Prostate Cancer Screening

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a common disease of men, but the optimal screening strategy for it is still not clear. The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test is often used for screening for PCa, although its accuracy for this purpose is low. Because of this, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that the use of PSA screening be based on shared decision making (SDM) between doctors and their patients. SDM is highly dependent on effective communication, and previous research has shown this is often lacking for Deaf patients in healthcare settings.

Kushalnagar et al. surveyed Deaf and hearing men in whom PSA screening was indicated; one group because of their age (45-69 years; n=162 Deaf & 708 hearing) and another group because of a family history of cancer (n=156 Deaf & 192 hearing). The Deaf men in both groups felt significantly less engaged in SDM than their hearing counterparts. For the men in the older age group who had had previous cancer, Deaf men were significantly less likely to have had a PSA test than their hearing counterparts (80% vs. 91%). For the Deaf men in the older age group, having a PSA test was associated with being white and having a personal history of cancer, while for the hearing men in this group it was associated with having a family history of cancer, a regular healthcare provider, and being engaged in SDM.



Paywalled
Kushalnagar, P., Hill, C., Carrizales, S., & Sadler, G.R. (2018). Prostate-Specimen Antigen (PSA) Screening and Shared Decision Making Among Deaf and Hearing Male Patients. J Cancer Educ, 10.1007/s13187-018-1436-3.



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