A Survey of Knowledge About and Perceived Barriers to Prostate Cancer Screening Among Medical Staff

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men and the second leading cause of deaths from cancer. Results of previous studies indicate the effectiveness of screening and early detection in reducing mortality from this disease. The purpose of this study was to survey the knowledge about prostate cancer and perceived barriers to prostate cancer screening among medical staff of two universities in Ahvaz, Iran. This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on 120 employees over 40 years old at Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, who were selected by using simple random sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-created questionnaire based on the study of texts and other studies. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software and through analytical methods including descriptive and inferential statistics. The most common barriers to screening for prostate cancer were a lack of knowledge about where to go for tests and how screening tests are done (70.8%), a lack of emphasis on screening tests (59.1%), and a fear of thinking about the disease (50%). Results showed that there was no significant relationship between doing the serum antigen test and having knowledge regarding prostate cancer. But there was a significant association between prostate cancer screening and perceived barriers (P = 0.001). Results showed that whereas knowledge by itself cannot guarantee men’s participation in prostate cancer screenings, perceived barriers can play an important role in discouraging men from cancer screening participation. Therefore, designing programs to address these barriers is very important.