Factors associated with uptake of prostate cancer screening among patients seeking health care services at Kenyatta National Hospital.
Abstract
Background:
Prostate cancer screening is not a common practice in Kenya in spite of prostate cancer being the
most commonly diagnosed cancer in Kenyan men .Majority of our patients therefore usually
present in the hospital with the disease in the advanced stage.
Objective: To investigate factors associated with uptake of prostate cancer screening among
patients seeking health care services at Kenyatta National Hospital.
Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study
Methodology: The researcher used systematic random sampling to select One hundred and ninth
(n=190) participants from the patient population. The participants were 40 years and above. Data
was collected using structured questionnaires, summarized using descriptive statistics and
presented in tables and graphs. Key informant interviews with Doctors and nurses were done to
collect qualitative data. It was carried out between January and June 2015.Statistical analyses for
associations between knowledge levels, perception of self-vulnerability to prostate cancer,
uptake of prostate cancer screening and socio-demographic characteristics were performed using
the chi-square tests followed by Spearman’s correlation tests and binary logistic regression
modeling.
Results: Results of this study showed that approximately three-quarters, 136 (72.7%)
participants had never attended medical checkup and most 113 (60.4%) patients strongly agreed
that it is important to get tested to prevent disease. At least 80% of patients 154 (82.4%) said that
they visited a doctor only when they are sick. Binary logistic regression analyses revealed that
good knowledge of prostate cancer was associated with university [OR, 18.741; 95% CI, 6.878-
51.064; P<0.0001]; diploma [OR, 9.332; 95% CI, 3.752-23.213; P<0.0001]; and secondary
education [OR, 4.078; 95% CI, 1.650-10.075; P=0.002].
Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate that health care intervention targeting
information dissemination; behavioral change on risk perceptions; and uptake of early screening
can halt the burden of prostate cancer in this population.
Recommendations: There is need for cancer stakeholders to promote good knowledge on
prostate cancer to increase men’s perception of self-vulnerability towards the disease and hence
increase PC screening. More research needs to be done to other Kenyan regions especially at
county level to identify the unique factors influencing uptake of prostate cancer screening.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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