Testicular Awareness: The What, the Why, and the How

Abstract

Health outcomes among men are poorer than women and little efforts have been made by health organizations to promote men’s health. Testicular disorders can have a negative effect on men’s health and are rarely addressed in pre-existing men’s health policies. Findings from the empirical literature on men’s awareness of testicular disorders suggest that men’s knowledge of testicular disorders is lacking and their intentions to seek timely medical attention for testicular symptoms are low. This paper aims to introduce the concept of ‘testicular awareness’ and explore its implications for health research, practice, and education. The key attributes of ‘testicular awareness’ include: (i) familiarity with own testes; (ii) knowing what is normal versus abnormal; (iii) ability to detect an abnormality; and (iv) knowing own risk factors. Testicular awareness is an all-encompassing concept since it helps men become familiar with a body part that is seldom discussed and enables them to detect testicular abnormalities and to seek timely medical attentions for testicular symptoms, regardless of the ultimate diagnosis. Testicular awareness can be promoted using a number of strategies; these include but are not limited to: (i) involving men in drafting men’s health policies that address testicular awareness; (ii) partnering with men to develop and test interventions promoting testicular awareness; (iii) being cognizant of the learning needs of men who are at risk of health disparities including those with low literacy and health literacy; (iv) promoting testicular awareness in clinical practice and health education; and (v) using men’s daily spheres of information (e.g. workplaces, universities, gyms, and community organizations) to promote testicular awareness.

Cancer education matters: a report on testicular cancer knowledge, awareness, and self-examination practice among young Polish men

“…men can become familiar with their own anatomy, gain knowledge how to detect and monitor the abnormalities other than cancer, and consider quicker contact with health care personnel to consult the detected anomalies 14 . However, the knowledge and awareness of TC and TSE is very poor among young men worldwide 1 – 9 , 14 – 17 . Interestingly, the gap in the knowledge is reported even among men that have completed the higher level of education, including health care or medical education 18 .…”

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Testicular Cancer Symptom Recognition and Stage of Diagnosis

“…Black/African Americans, further, have higher proportions of more advanced stage TC diagnoses and mortality in addition to males of lower socioeconomic status (SES) and more rural communities ( Adams et al., 2018 ; Kamel et al., 2016 ; Markt et al., 2016 ). This may be attributed to the lack of endorsement of preventive practices ( Rovito et al., 2016 ), such as testicular self-examination (TSE), a historically consistent lack of knowledge about TC symptoms among males ( Cronholm et al, 2008 ; Kuzgunbay et al, 2013 ; Moore & Topping, 1999 ; Saab et al, 2019 ), environmental exposures ( De Toni et al, 2019 ; Kollerud et al, 2020 ), or any combination of the above.…”

Awareness of testicular cancer among young men: A literature review

“…In Italy, the survival rate at 5 years is 91% 3 . The main non‐modifiable risk factors for TC are cryptorchidism, other family cases, a genetic predisposition, and white ethnicity 1,3,6,7 …”

“…Testicular self‐examination (TSE) seems to be one of the simplest and most effective ways to identify TC early, although there is a large controversy about its efficacy. There are no clear guidelines or evidence as to whether its benefits outweigh the risks 7 . Most patients present with a testicular mass, which suggests that TSE could aid in early detection 13 .…”