Knowledge of prostate cancer and screening practices among men attending urology clinics in tertiary and private health centers in southern Nigeria

Abstract

Prostate cancer, a disease of public health importance is the most diagnosed solid tumour in men and second leading cause of mortalities in developed and most developed countries. The aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge of prostate cancer and screening practices among men attending urology clinics of a tertiary and private based health centers in southern Nigeria. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study and demographic and anthropometric data were collected using well-structured self-administered questionnaires from consented men. A total of three hundred and fifty men participated in this study, 150 were diagnosed of prostate (Mean age 59.4±0.85), 100 were diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia (Mean age 57.8±0.76) and 100 were apparently healthy men used as controls (Mean age 53.5±0.53). Majority of the respondents (58.3%) diagnosed with prostate cancer had knowledge of the disease. A low level of screening practices of prostate cancer (34.1%) was observed among respondents. The study showed statistically significant association between the level of education and knowledge of the disease in all the study groups (P<0.05). Increased education will improve awareness of the disease and positive response to screening which will aid early detection and diagnosis. Key words: prostate cancer; benign prostatic hyperplasia; screening.