KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTION, RISK FACTORS AND UTILISATION OF PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING SERVICES AMONG MALE STAFF OF THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN, NIGERIA.

Abstract

Prostate Cancer (PC) is a public health problem in Nigeria. Male staff in tertiary hospitals have important roles to play in the promotion of screening service. Information related to male staffs’ knowledge and pattern of utilisation of PC screening service needed for designing interventions, control initiatives, have not been fully investigated. This study was therefore designed to determine the knowledge, perception , risk factors and utilisation of PC screening service among male staff of the university college Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. A descriptive cross-sectional study design using a three -stage random sampling technique was used to select 590 male staff from Departments and Units. The semi-structured questionnaire used for data collection included; 31-point knowledge and 20-point perception scales. Questions pertaining to PC-related risk factors, screening experience, suggestive signs/symptoms and perceived determinants of adoption of PC screening service were also included. Knowledge scores of <15, 15-25 and >25 were rated poor, fair and good, respectively. Perception score of <10 and ≥10 were categorized as non-favourably and favourably disposed to PC screening service respectively. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Student’s t-test and ANOVA test at p=0.05. Respondents’ mean age was 37.2±6.2 years. Respondents in the administrative, clinical, paramedical, maintainance and records professional groups were 26.5%, 23.4%, 22.0%, 18.6% and 9.5% respectively. Majority (70.3%) had heard about PC and their mean knowledge of PC was 12.6 ± 7.5. Respondents with poor, fair and good knowledge were 53.2%, 43.4% and 3.4% respectively. Mean perception score of respondents was 8.7± 4.9 while those with non-favourable and favourable perception were 45.3% and 54.7% respectively. The PC related risk factors included family history (6.0%), use of tobacco products (28.0%) and consumption of foods such as fried foods (86.0%), full cream milk (72.8%), cheese (65.8%) and fatty meat (96.9%). Only 3.9% had ever been screened for PC. The major reason for the failure to get screened was perceived lack of vulnerability to PC based on family history (61.8%). Proportion of respondents with positive suggestive signs and symptoms of PC was 17.1%. Mean knowledge of PC was significantly different among the clinical (17.4±6.5), paramedical (13.5±7.4), records (11.2±6.8), maintenance (10.3±7.5) and administrative staff (9.7±6.5). Mean knowledge of PC was significantly higher among respondents who had ever been screened for PC (16.6±6.4) than those who had never done so (12±7.5%). The knowledge score of respondents with family history of PC was significantly higher than those with no family history of PC. Significantly higher proportions of respondents aged <40 years had fair (65.6%) and good (95.0%) knowledge related to PC compared to those aged >40 years. The overall knowledge of prostate cancer was poor among male staff of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, in spite of their favourable perception of screening services. Although, prostate cancer-related risk practises were common, the patronage of screening services was low. Health education and counseling services are recommended to address these concerns.