Assessment of prostate cancer awareness and screening among men in Gombe State, Nigeria

Background: Prostate cancer is the number one cancer among Nigerian men, and there are screening methods that can be employed for early detection and reduction of mortality. The objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge of prostate cancer and its screening practices among men in Gombe local government. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among men aged 40 years and older. The studied community was selected using a simple random sampling technique, and a semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analysed using SPSS version 23 at a p-value of 5%. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 55.87±13.40 years. The findings showed that only 2.5% of the respondents had good knowledge of prostate cancer. About 37.63% of the respondents had a high level of positive perception of prostate cancer. Very few respondents (2.5%) had good screening practices. There was astatistically significant relationship between age knowledge of prostate cancer (p-value 0.045), while level of education was found to be statistically associated with screening practice for prostate cancer (p-value 0.020). Conclusion: The study showed that, despite poor knowledge and screening practices for prostate cancer, positive perceptions towards prostate cancer are encouraging. This calls for improving community awareness about the importance of prostate cancer screening by health authorities in Gombe State.