Knowledge, Attitude and Screening Practices of Prostate Cancer among Men in an Urban Community in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Prevalence rates of prostate cancer within Africa show Nigeria is ranked among countries with the highest prevalence. Improvement in the knowledge and attitude towards screening practices prevents millions of deaths yearly with a potential to prevent much more. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and screening practices for prostate cancer among men in an urban community in Lagos, Nigeria.

Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among 270 men selected by multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using pretested intervieweradministered questionnaire and analyzed using Epi info 7.2 statistical software. Chisquare and Fisher’s exact tests were used to determine statistical associations. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean age of the respondents was 49.4±8.0 years. Sixty-seven (24.8%) had no knowledge of risk factors for prostate cancer. Overall, 33 (15.2%) of the respondents had good knowledge while 28 (58.4%) had positive attitude. Only 24 (11.0%) had ever been screened. The major reason for lack of prostate cancer screening was lack of knowledge about the disease. Good knowledge (p<0.001) and positive attitudes (p=0.003) were significantly associated with good screening practices.

Conclusion: Although knowledge of prostate cancer was poor, attitude to prostate cancer screening was majorly positive. Sadly, this did not translate into good screening practices. There should be increased public awareness on prostate cancer and screening modalities available by relevant stakeholders to enhance uptake of prostate cancer screening to ameliorate the burden of the disease in Nigeria.