knowledge, attitude and practice of men aged 40-75 years towards prostate cancer screening in nakawa division kampala district

Description

Introduction: Prostate Cancer is the leading cancer affecting men in Africa , with an estimated incidence of 40,000 cases and 28000 deaths in 2008 according to WHO.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge attitude and practice of men aged 40-75 years towards prostate cancer screening in Nakawa division Kampala district. Method: This was a crossectional study in which 220 respondents were interviewed using a self administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS and presented in form of frequency tables for easy interpretationof the findings. Results: This study found that 73.8% of respondents did not know signs and symptoms of prostate cancer, 52.4% did not know the risk age group and 67.2% did not know the predisposing factors, indicating low knowledge level about the disease. Majority of the respondents 142(67.6%) had positive attitude towards knowing their status, though 175(83.4%) had never screened indicating a poor prostate cancer screening practice. Conclusion: the study found low level of knowledge about Prostate cancer among men and also poor practice toward its screening since majority of the respondents had never screened. However most respondents had a positive attitude towards prostate cancer screening to know their status. Recommendation: Ministry of Health, hospital managers, all clinicians and nurses need to work together to improve on prostate cancer screening strategies and creating awareness about the disease.