Background: The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) -value is often used during the prostate cancer trajectory as a marker of progression or response to treatment. Concerns about PSA-values are often expressed by patients in clinical situations. Today there is a lack of larger studies that have investigated the association between PSA-value and distress. The aim was to investigate the association between PSA-values and distress adjusted for sociodemographic factors, hormonal therapy and quality of life (QoL), among men with prostate cancer.

Methods: In this cross-sectional survey of 3165 men with prostate cancer, members of the Swedish Prostate Cancer Federation, answered questions about sociodemographic factors, PSA, distress, QoL and treatments. Descriptive statistics, and bivariate and multivariable analyses were performed. The result was presented based on four PSA-value groups: 0–19, 20–99, 100–999, and ≥ 1000 ng/ml.

Results: Of the men, 53% experienced distress. An association between distress and PSA-values was found where higher PSA-values were associated with higher OR:s for experiencing distress in the different PSA-groups: 0–19 ng/ml (ref 1), 20–99 ng/ml (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.01–1.55), 100–999 ng/ml (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.12–1.94), ≥1000 ng/ml (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.11–2.85). These associations were adjusted for sociodemographic factors and hormonal therapy. In the multivariable analyses, beside PSA-values, higher levels of distress were associated with being without partner or hormonal therapy. When adding QoL in the multivariable analysis, the association between PSA and distress did not remain significant.

Conclusion: These results indicate that the PSA-values are associated with distress, especially for those with higher values. However, to be able to support these men, continued research is needed to gain more knowledge about the mechanisms behind the association between emotional distress and PSA-values.