Knowledge about prostate cancer and screening among men attending Kibogora Level Two Teaching Hospital

Globally, prostate cancer ranks as one of the primary causes of cancer-related mortality for men. Prostate cancer death rates in sub-Saharan Africa are 2.7 times higher than the global norm. Delayed detection of the disease is one of the factors that contributes to this high mortality. Currently, little is known about how Rwandan men perceive, know about, and approach prostate cancer screening.

This study was designed to evaluate the level of awareness about prostate cancer and screening among men attending Kibogora Level Two Teaching in Rwanda.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample of male patients showing symptoms of urinary tract infections or prostate cancer. The survey included questions about demographic characteristics, and prostate cancer risks, signs and symptoms, and screening. Descriptive statistics were utilized to identify frequencies in responses.

A total of 164 men completed the survey. Most men were farmers (88.0%) with 67.1% having primary level education. About a third were between 41 and 50 yeas of age. Only 38.4% had heard of prostate cancer. Participants identified obesity (62.2%), smoking (58.5%), and exposure to agent orange (55.5%) most frequently as risk factors and 31.1% named difficulty urinating most frequently as a symptom of prostate cancer. Other symptoms mentioned were blood in the urine (20.7%) and erectile dysfunction (18.3%). Only five men indicated they had ever been screened for prostate cancer.

The study revealed this sample of Rwandan men had a low level of awareness and knowledge about prostate cancer and very few had engaged in prostate cancer screening. The results support the need for public education about the disease and screening approaches.