Knowledge and attitude of the population toward cancer prostate Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The aim of the following study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of men, in our region, regarding cancer prostate and its screening practices.

The field work was conducted in Riyadh City, during the period February through July 2011. It was a population - based cross-sectional study comprising 400 men over 40 years. In addition to socio-demographic data, history of the present and past medical illness, history of prostatic diseases and examination, family history of cancer prostate; participants were inquired about their knowledge and attitude toward prostate cancer (PC) and screening behavior using through two different Likert scales.

Only 10% of the respondents had practiced a regular PC examination checkup. Their knowledge about PC was poor and their attitude toward examination and screening was fair, where the mean of total correct knowledge score was 10.25 ± 2.5 (51.25%), while the mean of total attitude score was 18.3 ± 4.08 (65.3%). The respondents identified the physicians as the main sources of this information (62.4%), though they were not the main motives for a regular checkup. Knowledge represented the only significant predictor for participants' attitude.

Beliefs and attitudes have a great impact, at every stage of the cancer continuum, this attitudes depends mainly on level of knowledge and quantity of information provided to patients and their families. Such attitudes should rely on a solid background of proper information and motivation from physicians to enhance and empower attitudes toward PC screening behavior.