Knowledge, perceived risk and barriers to testicular self-examination among male university students in Uganda
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Date
2012
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Men's Health
Abstract
Testicular cancer (TC) is the most common malignancy among men aged 15–35 years and
although Africa has one of the lowest prevalence rates, TC is often diagnosed late. The aim of this study
was to describe TC knowledge, perceived risk and barriers to testicular self-examination (TSE) among
young males in Uganda.
Method: Self-administered questionnaires and a systematic random sampling technique were used to
collect data from 323 male students in a Ugandan University.
Results: The participants were mostly in the 18–22 years age range (59%) (mean age = 22 2.5 years).
The majority of participants (87%) did not know what age group was most at risk for TC, when to
perform TSE (71%) or whether testicular lumps are a sign of TC (77%). Participants mostly perceived their
risk for TC as being either low (32%) or moderate (58%). The mean perceived risk for TC was 1.8 0.61
and few participants (14%) were performing TSE regularly. Most participants (80%) reported a lack of
skill for performing TSE as well as perceiving TSE as embarrassing (87%) and time consuming (79%). Selfreported
practice of TSE was found to be associated with different aspects of TC knowledge (P = 0.01).
Conclusion: Young male Ugandans have little knowledge about TC and perceive their risk for this
disease to be low. Findings show that having good knowledge about TC is associated with performing
TSE. Implications for practice are that health care providers should scale-up health education about TC to
empower young males with the knowledge and skills required for cancer preventive practices and
behaviors. 2011 WPMH GmbH. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Description
Keywords
Young males, Testicular cancer, Knowledge, Risk, Cancer prevention
Citation
Muliira, J. K., Nalwanga, P. B., Muliira, R. S., & Nankinga, Z. (2012). Knowledge, perceived risk and barriers to testicular self-examination among male university students in Uganda. Journal of Men's Health, 9(1), 36-44.