Receptivity of African-American men to prostate cancer screening

The lifetime risk of prostate cancer among African-American men is two times higher than that of white men. Mortality from the disease is almost three times greater in African-Americans than in whites. This study assesses the receptivity of older (fifty to seventy-four years of age) African-American men (n = 86) in Chicago to periodic (annual and semiannual) prostate cancer screening.

A telephone survey conducted in January and February 1993, was used to collect data on subject sociodemographic background and medical history and to gather information on knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about prostate cancer and screening. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to identify factors associated with subject receptivity to annual and semiannual screening.

Logistic regression analyses revealed that receptivity to annual and semiannual (every six months) examination is strongly associated with the degree to which screening is perceived as a salient and coherent (i.e., important, effective, and convenient) preventive health behavior. An additional factor independently associated with willingness to go through semiannual screening was subjects' awareness that African-American men are at increased risk for prostate cancer compared to white men.

Findings from this study suggest that African-American men are willing to undergo prostate screening and are more receptive to annual than semiannual screening. Participation in screening may be facilitated by the provision of health education messages that emphasize the salience and coherence of early detection and elevated population risk.