Awareness of General Public Towards Cancer Prostate and Screening Practice in Arabic Communities: a Comparative Multi-Center Study

Abstract

The current study aimed at exploring the knowledge and beliefs of men aged forty years and over towardsprostate cancer screening and early detection in three Arab countries. The field work was conducted in threecountries; Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, during the period February through December 2011. Our targetpopulation were men aged 40 years and over. It was a population-based cross sectional study comprising 400subjects at each site. In addition to socio-demographic data, history of the present and past medical illness,practice history of prostatic cancer examination, family history of cancer prostate; participants were inquiredabout their knowledge and attitude towards prostate cancer and screening behavior using two different likertscales. The percentage of participants who practiced regular prostate check up ranged from 8-30%. They hadpoor knowledge and fair attitude towards prostate cancer screening behavior, where the mean total knowledgescore was 10.25±2.5, 10.76±3.39 and 11.24±3.39 whereas the mean total attitude score was 18.3±4.08, 20.68±6.4and 17.96±5.3 for Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan respectively. The respondents identified the physicians as themain sources of this information (62.4%), though they were not the main motives for regular checkup. Knowledgewas the only significant predictor for participants’ attitude in the multiple regression models. Participants’attitudes depends mainly on level of knowledge and quantity of information provided to the patients and theirfamilies. Such attitudes should rely on a solid background of proper information and motivation from physiciansto enhance and empower behaviors towards prostate cancer screening practices.