Accessibility to health services in patients with prostate cancer in Colombian context: a quantitative approach based on the Tanahashi model

Prostate cancer continues to be a public health problem worldwide with considerable consequences for the quality of life of patients, families and health systems. However, there are latent barriers that make it difficult for men to make use of health services to prevent or treat the disease in a timely manner. Therefore, the present research aims to evaluate accessibility to health services in the population with prostate cancer based on the Tanahashi Model, which includes 4 dimensions (access, availability, contact, acceptability). For this, a quantitative, nonexperimental correlational investigation is developed, so an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) are applied using SPSS. The findings show that although there is no single reason that adequately explains the factors that affect access to health services, in this study, the association between acceptability and accessibility is the strongest. The fear or shame of having others find out about their diagnosis, customs or beliefs are mediating variables in the search for health care. They represent an important challenge to educating men about this diagnosis, and especially prevention measures. Future lines of research are proposed, such as studies that consider variables related to gender, particularly the transgender population.