Background Prostate cancer screening is not a routine practice in Kenya despite of high morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. Most men seek medical attention when the disease is in an advanced stage resulting in a poor prognosis.
Objective This study aimed to determine the health seeking behavior and the uptake of prostate cancer screening among men aged 30-64 years old in Mukuru informal settlement, Nairobi-Kenya.
Methods The study deployed a descriptive cross-sectional utilizing both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires, key informant guides, and observation methods. Secondary data was obtained from existing facility health records, files and Ministry of Health (MoH) reporting tools for non-communicable diseases.
Participants The sample size comprised 200 male respondents aged between 30-64 years old from Mukuru informal settlement in Nairobi.
Results The study found that majority (80.5%) of respondents were married, had acquired formal form of education and most (50.5%) of them were self-employed while 30% were casual laborers. More than half (52.5%) resided close to a public healthcare facility and despite high (70%) awareness of prostate cancer (PCa), only a few (3.5%) reported having ever been screened for PCa. The respondents who reported being aware of the PCa screening method, whether it is manageable and known risk factors were found to be likely (p = 0.001, p = 0.002 and p = 0.001) respectively to have ever been screened for PCa. Additionally, qualitative data was collected to gain an in-depth understanding for low uptake of PCa screening.
Conclusion Socio-demographic variable on education was associated with the uptake of PCa screening. The healthcare services and health-seeking behavior showed significant associations to both outcomes, “ever been screened” and willingness to be screened." Moreover, the findings from this study demonstrated that the unavailability of free PCa screening services in public healthcare facilities, insufficient information on PCa screening, Lack of knowledge on predisposing risk factors and poor health-seeking behavior among men in Mukuru informal settlement resulted in a deficient uptake of PCa screening.
Recommendation Therefore, this study recommends for the local county government to partner with MoH in creating critical awareness on the importance of routine PCa screening practices by providing information resources and free screening services in order to have a well-informed population on screening benefits, harms and risks.
Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding StatementNot Funded
Author DeclarationsI confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
Ethical approval was sought from KNH-UoN Ethical Research Committee (KNH-EBC/RR/885) and statutory national permit to conduct the research was obtained from National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI / P / 93974 /46719).
I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.
Yes
Data AvailabilityAll data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors
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