IOWA CITY, Iowa, March 2 (UPI) -- Men with a "false-positive" prostate-cancer test result -- an abnormal screen but a cancer-free biopsy -- are anxious about their condition, a U.S. study says.
Researchers at the University of Iowa based their findings on telephone surveys of 210 men. They interviewed 101 men who had normal prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, levels and 109 men who had an abnormal PSA reading or abnormal digital rectal examination but whose biopsy for prostate cancer came back negative.
Men with false-positives were about three times as likely to report being at least somewhat worried about getting prostate cancer and nearly twice as likely to report being bothered by their sexual function, according to the study published in the journal Urology.
Lead author Dr. David Katz noted the study was limited by the researchers' inability to obtain data on how the men originally felt about their health prior to screening.
