Prostate cancer in Florida: knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs

In Florida, prostate cancer continues to be an increasing public health problem, especially among the elderly and medically underserved. Bilingual, random-digit-dialed telephone interviews were conducted with 897 men who were 65 years and older in Dade and Hillsborough counties, with the sample stratified along racial and ethnic lines. The purpose of the survey was to obtain information regarding knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs about prostate cancer, its prevention, and early detection. More than 60% of the 897 respondents believed that a person with prostate cancer had an 80% or greater chance for cure, yet only 67% reported ever having a digital rectal examination. Black (35.7%) and Hispanic respondents (42.5%) were twice as likely to have never had a digital rectal examination than were their white counterparts (19.8%). When asked why they had never had this examination or had not had one in the past 2 years, 38.5% replied that it was "not needed/not necessary" and 27.6% replied they "had not had any problems." When asked their sources for answers to health-related questions, physicians ranked first whereas family and friends ranked near the bottom on a list of some 11 sources. Clearly, efforts need to be increased to identify, reduce, and/or eliminate potential barriers to use of early-detection programs.