Knowledge and attitudes towards prostate cancer screening among males at Dzingahe Village, Limpopo Province

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PC) screening is a strategy to identify cancer before it causes symptoms. However, men’s participation in prostate cancer screening seems inadequate and remains a public health concern worldwide. This leads most men to be diagnosed with an advanced prostate cancer where cancer cells spread to other parts of the body. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of males towards prostate cancer screening at a selected village in Thulamela Municipality, Limpopo province. The study adopted a quantitative approach using a descriptive cross-sectional survey. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 245 men who are 40 years and above. The sample was selected using the simple random sampling technique. The Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 25.0 was used to analyse the collected data; and the results were presented in percentages, frequencies and tables. Cross tabulation, Chi square and Phi and Cramer’s V test were also utilised to test for association and effects size respectively at .05 level of significance. Respondent’s knowledge as an explanatory variable, screening practices as response variable was assessed. The findings of this study showed that 64.1% of respondents had inadequate knowledge about prostate cancer. About 62.4% respondents had no prior knowledge regarding prostate cancer and 69% of respondents didn’t know the age at risk for the development of PC, while 81.9% of respondents had never heard about PC, and 35.9% didn’t know that PC can be treated. 84.9% of respondents had positive attitudes towards PC screening, however, 96.7% had never undergone screening for prostate cancer and 46.9% indicated that they will never undergo PSA test. Furthermore, the study found a significant association between men’s knowledge of PC and their willingness to undergo PC screening, X2 (3, N=245) = 48.44, p = .001; men’s knowledge of PC was significantly related to their attitudes towards PC, X2 (1, N = 245) = 17.63, p = .001. The effect size was moderate, ɸ = .27. Knowledge was significantly associated with all the demographic variables. Therefore, this study recommends widespread public health campaigns focusing on educating men about prostate cancer risk factors, symptoms, treatment and ways to prevent and manage it through healthy lifestyles.