Implications of Regionalizing Care in the Developing World: Impact of Distance to Referral Center on Compliance to Biopsy Recommendations in a Brazilian Prostate Cancer Screening Cohort
Table 1
Baseline characteristics of men undergoing initial PC screening by Brazilian mobile medical units stratified by compliance to biopsy recommendation (n = 1,561) and PC details among compliant men who underwent biopsy (n = 318).
Baseline characteristics
Compliant men
Noncompliant men
No. (%)
N = 1,131 (72.5)
N = 430 (27.5)
Educational level attained
Illiterate
279 (24.7)
165 (38.4)
<0.001
Incomplete primary
729 (64.5)
229 (53.3)
Complete primary
86 (7.6)
17 (4.0)
High school
30 (2.7)
15 (3.5)
College
7 (0.6)
4 (0.9)
Year of screening
2004
230 (20.3)
82 (19.1)
<0.001
2005
355 (31.4)
80 (18.6)
2006
333 (29.4)
102 (23.7)
2007
213 (18.8)
166 (38.6)
Positive family history
PC
56 (5.0)
14 (3.3)
0.15
Any cancer
122 (10.8)
33 (7.7)
0.07
DRE suspicious of PC
378 (33.4)
84 (19.5)
<0.001
Cancer status
Positive
320 (37.7)
—
—
Negative
530 (62.4)
—
—
Grade group
I (Gleason 2–6)
207 (65.1)
—
—
II-III (Gleason 7)
85 (26.7)
—
—
IV-V (Gleason 8–10)
26 (8.2)
—
—
Clinical stage
Stage I
237 (74.5)
—
—
Stage II
42 (13.2)
—
—
Stage III
16 (5.0)
—
—
Stage IV
23 (7.2)
—
—
Mean (SD)
Age (years)
66 (9.0)
68 (9.3)
<0.001
Median (IQR)
tPSA (ng/mL)
4.2 (2.6–7.1)
4.9 (3.5–7.7)
<0.001
Distance from Barretos (km)
225 (119–414)
921 (333–1603)
<0.001
Total number of positive cores@
3 (2–5)
—
—
Total number of cores taken@
12 (10–14)
—
—
Prostate volume (cc)@
33 (25–46)
—
—
tPSA (ng/mL)@
7 (4–16)
—
—
Statistical analyses: t-test; +chi-squared test; #rank-sum. DRE: digital rectal exam; IQR: interquartile range; km: kilometer; : value; PC: prostate cancer; tPSA: total serum prostate specific antigen (ng/mL). @Among 318 men with available data.
