Prostate cancer awareness in the city of São Paulo

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate awareness of prostate cancer in the population of the city of São Paulo. Methods: A total of 392 adults were randomly interviewed on public spaces in the city of São Paulo, and answered a questionnaire that addressed demographic questions and specific knowledge about the prostate cancer. A score was used to assess awareness of cancer in general, and of prostate cancer, considering satisfactory knowledge a score of 6 points. Results: The mean age was 36.9 years (standard deviation of ±12.6) and 58.2% of participants were male. No previous contact with information related to prostate cancer was reported by 45.5% of participants. For these cases, a greater proportion was observed among men aged over 50 years. As to the score, the mean was 3.7 (standard deviation of ±1.3), with a positive correlation among higher scores, higher income and education level. Less than 5% of participants believed they should only search for prostate cancer screening when symptomatic. Finally, among the less frequent responses to risk factors for prostate cancer, is “ethnic origin” (2.8%). Conclusion: Even though most participants did not have a satisfactory score, the level of awareness demonstrated in this study seems superior to that of other populational series. Hence it suggested the assessed population understood some essential concepts in prostate cancer, such as the importance of screening and the follow-up. The efforts made by the Sociedade Brasileira de Urologia on educational campaigns partially explain this. However, working in some concepts, like identifying risk factors for prostate cancer, might optimize screening outcomes.

Prostate cancer, its implications and awareness in the South Asian population: a retrospective cross-sectional cohort analysis

“…This demonstrates that a significant portion of people concur that PC screening is important. Similarly, in another research, 66.6% thought yearly screening for PC should be promoted whereas 74.2% had knowledge regarding the PSA and digital rectal exam as diagnostic tools for the condition 19 .…”

“…It is crucial for women to educate themselves and their male partners or male family members in order to facilitate in early detection of PC. Hence, in order to better understand and adherence to screening guidelines, it is necessary to examine women's knowledge regarding PC [19] . Tanveer et al [1] measured the awareness of older men about PC, but did not evaluate females' knowledge.…”