Assessment of knowledge, practice and attitude towards prostate cancer screening among male patients aged 40 years and above at Kitwe Teaching Hospital, Zambia

Abstract

Background
Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in men. Evaluating knowledge, practice and attitudes towards the condition is important to identify key areas where interventions can be instituted.


Methods
This was a hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study aimed at assessing knowledge, practice and attitude towards prostate cancer screening among male patients aged 40 years and above at Kitwe Teaching Hospital, Zambia.


Results
A total of 200 men took part in the study (response rate = 100%). Of the 200 respondents, 67 (33.5%) had heard about prostate cancer and 58 (29%) expressed knowledge of prostate cancer out of which 37 (63.8%) had low knowledge. Twenty-six participants (13%) were screened for prostate cancer in the last 2 years. 98.5% of the participants had a positive attitude towards prostate cancer screening. Binary logistic regression results showed that advanced age (p = 0.017), having secondary or tertiary education (p = 0.041), increased knowledge (p = 0.023) and family history of cancer (p = 0.003) increased prostate cancer screening practice. After multivariate analysis, participants with increased knowledge (p = 0.001) and family history of cancer (p = 0.002) were more likely to practice prostate cancer screening.


Conclusion
The study revealed low knowledge of prostate cancer, low prostate cancer screening practice and positive attitude of men towards prostate cancer screening. These findings indicate a need for increased public sensitization campaigns on prostate cancer and its screening tests to improve public understanding about the disease with the aim of early detection.