Association of Prostate Specific Antigen Concentration with Lifestyle Characteristics in Korean Men

We investigated the relationships between demographics, lifestyle characteristics, and serum totalprostate specific antigen (PSA) concentration and examined the population-based distribution of total PSAby age among 2,246 Korean men with a median age of 45 years. We obtained data about demographicand lifestyle characteristics based on self-reporting using a questionnaire. We also performed physicalexaminations, anthropometric measurements, and biochemical measurements. The PSA concentrationincreased with age and there was a significant difference in total PSA concentration between the age groupsof 21-60 years and >60 years. Age >60 years, height ≥1.8 m, a low frequency of alcohol consumption, andtaking nutritional supplements showed a significantly increased odds ratio for increased PSA when 3.0 ng/mL was chosen as the PSA cut-off level. Smoking status, BMI, percent body fat, diabetes mellitus, fatty liver,herbal medicine use, vitamin use, and diet were not significantly associated with total PSA regardless of thecut-off level. When interpreting a single PSA test, height, alcohol consumption, and nutritional supplementuse should be considered, in addition to age.