Knowledge, Attitude and Perception on Self-Vulnerability of Prostate Cancer Among Men in Akinyele , Ibadan

Purpose:

 Prostate cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among men globally and in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Good knowledge, attitude and perception of vulnerability could increase surveillance, uptake of preventive measures, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality rate Anecdotal reports indicate  a worrisome prevalence  among  men in Akinyele Local Government Area, but little is known about knowledge, attitude and extent of vulnerability perception towards prostate cancer among them. Objectives Hence, we investigated the knowledge, attitude and perceptions on self-vulnerability towards prostate cancer among our participants with the hope of generating data that could be useful in instituting interventions, thereby reducing mortality and morbidity.

 Methods: This was a community based cross-sectional study. We utilized purposive sampling technique to select 107 men who consented and met the inclusion criteria from Ojo in Akinyele local government (Mean Age: 24.6, SD: 9.84) irrespective of their socioeconomic and educational status. Data were obtained using a structured questionnaire with 40 items and a reliability of 0.79.  Analysis was done with SPSS , using descriptive statistics and Chi square at 0.05 level of significance.

Results:   Knowledge levels on prostate cancer  was high ( 79.4%)  among the participants, only 15%  had ever received health information from health care providers,  and  only one-third ( 37.2%)  of  them  knew about the availability of  screening methods.  Level of knowledge   was  influenced by religion (p =0.03), occupation (p=0.04) and educational levels (p= 0.005). Majority (77.6%), had poor attitude, while perception on levels of self-vulnerability to prostate cancer was low (14% and influenced by age  (p=0.004) and marital status (p= 0.004).

Conclusion: Findings indicated that there is high level of awareness among   participants, with poor attitude, low   knowledge on the availability of screening measures and poor health promotion attitude among health care providers.  It is imperative that  measures  be put in place to create awareness on availability of screening facilities  and  self-vulnerability towards the disease , which might  increase Prostate Cancer screening uptake  in  Akinyele LGA, Ibadan , thereby reducing morbidity and  mortality.