Men’s willingness to pay for prostate cancer screening: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to review studies on willingness to pay (WTP) for prostate cancer screening. METHODS: This systematic-review was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guidelines. By searching six-health-database, WTP studies on prostate cancer screening using contingent valuation method published in English until March 2020 were included and those with unavailable full-text and inadequate quality-assessment scores were excluded. Smith checklist was used for the quality assessment. Extracted WTPs were converted to US dollar in 2018 using exchange rate parity and net present value formula to make comparison. Factors’ effect was assessed by vote counting. RESULTS: Six final studies published after 2006 reported above 70% Smith checklist items needed to be considered in contingent valuation study reports. Seven factors have positive effects on WTP. The reported WTP value varied from 11$ to 588$ in Japan and Germany, respectively. CONCLUSION: WTP for prostate cancer screening was positive among all studied men. The results of factors’ effect assessment showed that better understanding prostate cancer risks or screening tests and factors such as age, income, family history of cancer, hospitalization history, and educational level have positive effects. Moreover, prostate-specific antigen history, health insurance, employment, and subject’s health assessment received less attention. The results’ generalization to all countries is not applicable because there are no studies for low- and middle-income countries. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO 2020 CRD42020172789 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13643-020-01522-3.