Knowledge, perceived risk and barriers to testicular self-examination among male university students in Uganda

Background

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%). Self-reported 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.