Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Optimization Of Psa Screening Policies: A Comparison Of The Patient And Societal Perspectives, Jingyu Zhang, Brian T. Denton, Hari Balasubramanian, Nilay D. Shah, Brant A. Inman

Hari Balasubramanian

Objective—To estimate the benefit of PSA-based screening for prostate cancer from the patient and societal perspectives.

Method—A partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) model was used to optimize PSA screening decisions. We considered age-specific prostate cancer incidence rates and the mortality rates from prostate cancer and competing causes. Our model trades off the potential benefit of early detection with the cost of screening and loss of patient quality of life due to screening and treatment. PSA testing and biopsy decisions are made based on the patient’s probability of having prostate cancer. Probabilities are inferred based on the patient’s complete PSA …