Knowledge And Attitudes Towards Prostate Cancer Screening Amongst Men In Oshana Region, Namibia

ABSTRACT

Early diagnosis in cancer greatly affects treatment success of which the most important components are education (knowledge) and encouragement of the target population to participate in early diagnostic procedures (World Health Organisation). Statistics from Cancer Namibia (CAN) show that prostate cancer has been on the rise with 126 and 311 cases reported in 2006 and 2012. In 2014 and 2015, 52 and 68 prostate cancer cases were recorded in Intermediate Hospital Oshakati (IHO). Out of the 52 cases in 2014, 10 (19%) died and out of the 68 cases in 2015 14 (21%) died. The study examined knowledge and attitudes on prostate cancer screening amongst men in Oshana region.

This was a cross-sectional study among men aged between 18-72 years attending IHO Outpatients Department. We enrolled 384 participants using systematic random sampling. Frequencies and proportions were generated. Bivariate analysis was performed to determine factors affecting the level of knowledge and attitudes; factors found to be significant were further analysed using logistic regression. The mean age for the respondents was 30.4, ±12.5SD and range 18-72. Majority 219 (57%) of participants lived in urban areas while 271 (70.6%) were single. The most common source of information was through the radio. Overall, the respondents had inadequate knowledge 269 (70.1%), positive attitudes 331 (86.2%) and low screening uptake 16/ 76 (21%) among eligible men (>45years). Married or cohabitating (OR=1.73; 95% CI = 1.07-2.79); and attained tertiary education (OR=2.91, 95% CI= 1.43-5.94), being a civil servant (OR=4.07, 95% C.I = 1.22-13.53) and earned > US$ 200 per month (OR=1.99, 95%CI = 1.24-3.19) were found to be associated with adequate knowledge at the bi-variate level. Tertiary education (OR=2.24, 95% CI=1.06-4.73) was the independent risk factors for adequate knowledge after adjusting for confounders.

There was generally poor knowledge and low screening among the respondents. Advance level of education (tertiary education) was the major predictor of adequate knowledge. There is a need for exploration of new platforms for creating awareness on PCa in the community and inclusion of PCa screening in routine medical check-ups for early diagnosis in eligible men.