Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Knowledge and Awareness of Prostate Cancer Among Omani Men Attending a Teaching Hospital

  • Published:
Journal of Cancer Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Prostate cancer is ranked as the fourth most prevalent cancer in the world and the second most common cancer affecting men. In Oman, prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men, with the majority of prostate cancer patients presenting in the more advanced stages of the disease. Public awareness of the risk factors, symptoms and emphasising the importance of seeking early medical attention could help to improve the outcomes and survival rates of prostate cancer patients. The aim of this study is to determine the awareness levels of the risk factors, symptoms and barriers to seeking early medical intervention among adult Omani men. A validated questionnaire measuring the knowledge of risk factors, symptoms and barriers to seeking early medical help was used to collect data from adult Omani men attending a teaching hospital in Muscat, Oman. Out of 720 men who were invited, 600 participated in the study (response rate = 83%). The most recognised risk factor was obesity (366; 61.0%), and the least was sexually transmitted diseases (204; 34.0%); the most recognised symptom was unexplained weight loss (26.5%), the least was changes in seminal fluid (13.3%); the most common barrier to seeking early intervention was “not trusting the medical knowledge of the doctors” (57.5%), the least was “difficulty in arranging transport” (19.5%). Age, education level, marital status and family history of cancer were significantly associated with the participants’ knowledge of prostate cancer. Participants received a significant part of their prostate cancer awareness via the social media. National awareness campaigns using social media and information leaflets are needed to educate Omani men on prostate cancer awareness and prevention and to increase trust in the expertise of medical professionals. Further research exploring the barriers to seeking early medical intervention is needed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. World Health Organization (2018) Cancer. Latest global cancer data. https://www.who.int/cancer/PRGlobocanFinal.pdf. Accessed 14 Feb 2019

  2. Houston KA, King J, Li J, Jemal A (2018) Trends in prostate cancer incidence rates and prevalence of prostate specific antigen screening by socioeconomic status and regions in the United States, 2004 to 2013. J Urol 199(3):676–682

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. World Health Organization. GLOBOCAN 2012: Estimated Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide in 2012. All Cancers (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer). http://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/pdf/fact-sheets/cancers/cancer-fact-sheets-29.pdf. Accessed 14 Feb 2019

  4. Osman E, Gomha MA, Harb A, Aldayel A, Aloraifi I, Almousa R, Khan I (2014) An early-detection programme for prostate cancer in Saudi men: A call from a tertiary-care centre in the Eastern province. Arab J Urol 12(3):187–191

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Salim EI, Moore MA, Al-Lawati JA, Al-Sayyad J, Bazawir A, Bener A et al (2009) Cancer epidemiology and control in the arab world-past, present and future. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 10(1):3–16

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Brown R, Kerr K, Haoudi A, Darzi A (2012) Tackling cancer burden in the Middle East: Qatar as an example. Lancet Oncol. 13(11):e501–e508

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Arafa MA, Rabah DM, Wahdan IH (2012) Awareness of general public towards cancer prostate and screening practice in Arabic communities: A comparative multi-center study. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 13(9):4321–4326

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Giovannucci E, Rimm EB, Colditz GA, Stampfer MJ, Ascherio A, Chute CG et al (1993) A prospective study of dietary fat and risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 85(19):1571–1579

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Schulman CC, Kirby R, Fitzpatrick JM (2003) Awareness of prostate cancer among the general public: findings of an independent international survey. Eur Urol 44(3):294–302

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Smith LK, Pope C, Botha JL (2005) Patients’ help-seeking experiences and delay in cancer presentation: a qualitative synthesis. Lancet. 366(9488):825–831

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Forbes LJ, Simon AE, Warburton F, Boniface D, Brain KE, Dessaix A, Donnelly C et al (2003) Differences in cancer awareness and beliefs between Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK (the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership): do they contribute to differences in cancer survival? Br J Cancer 108(2):292–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Weller D (2006) Colorectal cancer in primary care: even with national screening, primary care can do more to cut mortality. BMJ 333(7558):54–55

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Al-Azri M, Al-Maskari A, Al-Matroushi S, Al-Awisi H, Davidson R, Panchatcharam SM et al (2016) Awareness of cancer symptoms and barriers to seeking medical help among adult people attending primary care settings in Oman. Health Serv Res Manag Epidemiol 3:2333392816673290

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Ministry of Health (2013). Cancer incidence in Oman. Department of Non-Communicable Disease. Directorate General of Primary Health care. Ministry of Health, Sultanat of Oman

  15. Kehinde E. Prostate cancer in the Middle East: a perspective from Oman.1998:383. New Perspectives in Prostate Cancer By Arie Belldegrun, Professor Tim Oliver, Roger S Kirby, Donald W W Newling Chapter 36.

  16. Al-Azri M, Al-Rasbi K, Al-Hinai M, Davidson R, Al-Maniri A (2014) Awareness of risk factors for cancer among Omani adults-A community based study. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 15(13):5401–5406

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Al-Azri M, Al-Hamedi I, Al-Awisi H, Al-Hinai M, Davidson R (2015) Public awareness of warning signs and symptoms of cancer in Oman: a community-based survey of adults. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 16(7):2731–2737

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Al-Azri M, Al-Kindi J, Al-Harthi T, Al-Dahri M, Panchatcharam SM, Al-Maniri A (2017) Awareness of stomach and colorectal cancer risk factors, symptoms and time taken to seek medical help among public attending primary care setting in Muscat Governorate, Oman. J Cancer Educ

  19. Al-Azri M, Al-Saidi M, AL-Mutair E, Panchatcharam SM (2018) Awareness of risk factors, symptoms and time to seek medical help of ovarian cancer amongst Omani women attending teaching hospital in Muscat Governorate, Oman. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 19(7):1833–1843

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Macdonald S, Macleod U, Campbell NC, Weller D, Mitchell E (2006) Systematic review of factors influencing patient and practitioner delay in diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal cancer. Br J Cancer 94(9):1272–1280

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Al-Azri MH (2016) Delay in cancer diagnosis: causes and possible solutions. Oman Med J 31(5):325–326

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Stubbings S, Robb K, Waller J, Ramirez A, Austoker J, Macleod U, Hiom S, Wardle J (2009) Development of a measurement tool to assess public awareness of cancer. Br J Cancer 101(S2):S13–S17

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Macleod U, Mitchell ED, Burgess C, Macdonald S, Ramirez AJ (2009) Risk factors for delayed presentation and referral of symptomatic cancer: evidence for common cancers. Br J Cancer 101(Suppl 2):S92–S101

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Quaife SL, Forbes LJ, Ramirez AJ, Brain KE, Donnelly C, Simon AE et al (2014) Recognition of cancer warning signs and anticipated delay in help-seeking in a population sample of adults in the UK. Br J Cancer 110(1):12–18

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Oman Cancer Association (2017) Clinical and Self Breast Examination Secondary Clinical and Self Breast Examination. http://www.oca.om/index.php/corporate-3/art2-8. Accessed 14 Feb 2019

  26. Taylor ML, Mainous AG 3rd, Wells BJ (2005) Prostate cancer and sexually transmitted diseases: a meta-analysis. Fam Med 37(7):506–512

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Poushter J, Bishop C, Chwe H (2018) Social media use continues to rise in developing countries, but plateaus across developed ones. Washington: Pew Internet and American Life Project

  28. Neiger BL, Thackeray R, Van Wagenen SA, Hanson CL, West JH, Barnes MD et al (2012) Use of social media in health promotion: purposes, key performance indicators, and evaluation metrics. Health Promot Pract 13(2):159–164

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Welch V, Petkovic J, Pardo JP, Rader T, Tugwell P (2016) Interactive social media interventions to promote health equity: an overview of reviews. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can 36(4):63–75

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Zhao D-H, Rao K-Q, Zhang Z-R (2016) Patient trust in physicians: empirical evidence from Shanghai, China. Chin Med J 129(7):814–818

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Mohammed Al-Azri M, Ganguly SS (2009) Patients' views of interpersonal continuity of care in four primary health care centres of urban oman. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 9(3):287–295

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Alazri M, Heywood P, Neal RD, Leese B (2007) Continuity of care: literature review and implications. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 7(3):197–206

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  33. Alan G, Paul F (2004) Factors affecting men’s help-seeking in the early detection of prostate cancer: implications for health promotion. J Mens Health 1(4):345–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Padela AI, Rodriguez del Pozo P (2011) Muslim patients and cross-gender interactions in medicine: an Islamic bioethical perspective. J Med Ethics 37(1):40–44

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Ministry of National Economy (2010). Oman census summary. http://www.data.gov.om/. Accessed 14 Feb 2019

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Mohammed Al-Azri

  2. College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Ali Sulaiman Al-Hinai & Mohammed Hamed Al-Ghafri

  3. Research Department,, Oman Medical Specialty Board, Muscat, Oman

    Sathiya Murthi Panchatcharam

Authors
  1. Mohammed Al-Azri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ali Sulaiman Al-Hinai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mohammed Hamed Al-Ghafri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sathiya Murthi Panchatcharam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammed Al-Azri.

Ethics declarations

The study has been approved by the Medical Research and Ethics Committee of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman (MREC # 1360).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Al-Azri, M., Al-Hinai, A.S., Al-Ghafri, M.H. et al. Knowledge and Awareness of Prostate Cancer Among Omani Men Attending a Teaching Hospital. J Canc Educ 35, 1002–1010 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01556-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01556-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation