Knowledge of prostate cancer and screening practices among men in Sokoto, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Halting the rising burden of prostate cancer across the globe has become a major public health challenge with the absence of intellectual consensus on the effective strategies for its prevention. However, knowledge of the disease and uptake of prostate cancer screening remain indispensable in mitigating the dire consequences of the prevalent late presentation of patients with the disease in sub-Saharan Africa.Aims and Objectives: This study was designed with an aim to assess prostate cancer knowledge and screening practices among men in Sokoto, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 participants (selected by systematic sampling technique) attending the medical and surgical outpatient clinics of UDUTH, Sokoto, Nigeria. Data were collected with a pretested, structured questionnaire and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20 computer software.Results: The mean age of the respondents was 53.13 ± 7.92 years. Only 15 (5.0%) and 4 (1.3%) of the 300 respondents were aware of prostate cancer and prostate cancer screening respectively. Most of the respondents (95.0%) had poor knowledge of prostate cancer, and none of them have ever had a prostate cancer screening test done, with the most commonly cited reason being lack of awareness (98.6%).Conclusion: This study showed poor knowledge of prostate cancer and zero uptake of prostate cancer screening among the participants. These findings highlight the need for government and healthcare providers to sensitize the public on prostate cancer and its prevention, in addition to facilitating unrestricted access of those at risk to prostate cancer screening services.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.9(6) 2018 51-56