Abstract
Introduction
Cancer
of the prostate is a major contributor to morbidity, mortality on men of
African descent. Multiplicities of factors are influence men’s decision to
present themselves for screening and treatment services. Inequities in the
utilization of prostate cancer screening and treatment aligns with such
variables as income, age, language, cost, knowledge, transport, fear,
embarrassment, worry, pain, and social factors such as lack of trust of
personnel, unfriendly staff, and time. The purpose of this study was to
understand the factors that influence decision by males to undergo prostate
cancer screening and by extension treatment in Nigerian men.
Method
The
study involved the use of qualitative data administered as interviewer guided
survey questionnaire to one hundred and thirty-one (131) men attending the
Out-patient Clinic of UNTH, Ituku/Ozalla, Enugu. Descriptive statistics were
used to analyze the demographic variables, and independent t-test to determine
the level of significance of the personal, social, economic and health-facility
related factors on men’s decision to undergo prostate cancer screening and
treatment services. Analysis was done using SPSS 16 stats transfer, to
ascertain frequencies, mean, standard deviation, and p-values.
Results
The
study revealed that a good percentage of men attending the clinic, 35% were
aged 65-69, married (92.9%), attained primary education (39.4%), engaged in
various forms of trade (36.2%) and are Christians (100%). Personal factors that
influence their prostate cancer screening and treatment decision were: Afraid
that I might be told I have prostate cancer, I feel embarrassed to expose my
private parts to other persons for examination, prostate cancer is not common
in African men, I don’t have the heart to withstand prostate cancer screening,
Going for prostate cancer screening will lower my image as a man, not of prostate
cancer screening, whether one screens or not, one will surely die, belief that
it is better not to know ones prostate cancer status. The health-facility
related factors include facility being very far from their homes, difficulty
accessing healthcare service in the hospitals, not having enough strength to move
around the hospital because the places of care are far away from each other,
poor attitude of healthcare providers and favouritism. For the social factors,
the following were found to be significant inability to get permission from
their place of work, prostate cancer screening takes time, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) not covering prostate cancer screening, and prostate
cancer screening taking much time. The economic factors include inability to
afford cost of screening and screening taking time that would have been used to
fend for family.
Conclusion
This
study found that personal, social, economic and health-facility-related factors
combine to influence men’s decision to access prostate cancer screening and
treatment services. An understanding of these roles played by these factors in men’s
decision to avail themselves of prostate
cancer screening and treatment services may provide healthcare professionals
with the information they need to develop and implement
interventions/strategies to address these factors with intent to increase prostate
cancer screening and early treatment which will lead to decrease in morbidity
and mortality and increase in survivorship.
Recommendations
Based on the findings, the
researcher recommended among other things that healthcare providers especially general
practitioners need to do their part in promoting prostate cancer screening by disseminate
information that focus on educating men about prostate cancer risks, prevention
and early detection to enhance uptake of screening practices.
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