Table 1 Characteristics of included studies
Reference number | Year | Country | Design | Participants | Source population and response rate | QS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
[14] | 2006 | USA | Database | GPs & internists | 505 patients aged 75 years or older, not previously diagnosed with prostate cancer who underwent a PSA test between 1998 and 2004 | 4 |
[24] | 2000 | Spain | Database | GP | 94 patients not previously diagnosed with prostate cancer with a PSA ≥ 4 in 1998, selected from the pertinent laboratory | 6 |
[21] | 1998 | USA | Database | Internists | 1,448 patients not previously diagnosed with prostate cancer who in 1993 underwent a PSA test | 5 |
[23] | 2008 | UK | Database & survey | GPs | Database: 709 patients pre-guideline launch and 1,040 men post-guideline launch with PSA ≥ 3 ng/ml and ≥ 1 PSA test by GPs | 7 (survey) |
515 patients pre-guideline launch and 607 post-guideline launch with normal test-result (< 3) (random 25% sample of normal PSA tests by GP) | ||||||
Questionnaire: 69 GPs from England and Wales, registered for PSA testing with the National External Quality Assessment Service, 48 responded, response rate 70% | ||||||
[18] | 2008 | France | Survey | GPs | All 1,339 GPs in Auvergne (France) registered with the Urssaf in 2006, 658 responded, response rate 49,1% | 5 |
[26] | 2008 | UK | Survey | GPs | 502 PCPs in West Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital area (UK), 192 responded, response rate 38% | 6 |
[7] | 2005 | Denmark | Survey | GPs | 325 GPs in Northern Denmark (23% woman), 291 responded, response rate 90% | 8 |
[6] | 2003 | Ireland | Survey | GPs | 400 GPs from Northern Ireland randomly selected by computer, 282 responded, response rate 71% | 6 |
[15]* | 2002 | UK | Survey | GPs | 200 GPs registered in the East Surrey region, 118 responded, response rate 59% | 2 |
[19] | 1995 | USA | Survey | GPs | All 149 OAFP GPs from the Oklahoma City area and 151 randomly selected OAFP physicians outside this area, 152 responded, response rate 53% | 9 |
[22] | 1995 | UK | Survey | GPs/general surgeons/ geriatricians/FHSA | 500 GPs, associated with the Western General Infirmary in Edinburgh, Scotland, 118 responded, response rate 23,6% | 4 |
373 general surgeons, 85 responded, response rate 22,8% | ||||||
712 geriatricians, 160 responded, response rate 22,5% | ||||||
115 FHSAs, 58 responded, response rate 50,4% (and 320 urologists, results excluded from this SR) | ||||||
[17] | 2007 | Japan | Survey | Internists/general surgeons (PCP) | 935 PCPs (internist and general surgeons not in hospital and no urologist) in South metropolitan Tokyo, 281 responded, mean response rate 30% (varying per question) | 5 |
[16] | 1998 | USA | Survey | GPs/internists (PCP) | All physicians from the AMARP, listing themselves in general internal medicine, family medicine (or urology, results excluded in this SR). 444 PCPs responded, response rate 51% | 6 |
[20] | 1996 | USA | Survey | GPs/internists (PCP) | 1.816 PCPs randomly selected from all Arizona-licensed physicians from the BMESA who selfreported to be GP, family practitioner or internist. 68 were subsequently excluded (various reasons) and 57 were unreachable. Overall, 141 eligible physicians completed the survey, response rate 42,9% | 10 |
[25] | 1996 | USA | Survey | Internists/medical subspecialists (PCP) | All PCPs in Brooklyn, New York with the MSSNY, 311 PCPs responded, response rate 28%, including 134 GPs (43,1%) and 177 internists/medical subspecialists (56,9%) | 4 |