Knowledge, Awareness, and Perceptions towards Prostate Cancer amongst Male UNIMAS Undergraduates

Abstract

Prostate cancer has always been thought as a cancer of elderly men. However, men of any age can develop prostate cancer. Early onset prostate cancer has become an emerging public health concern as there is an increased incidence of prostate cancer amongst men aged ≤55 years over the last two decades. This quantitative cross sectional study was to assess the knowledge, awareness, and perceptions toward prostate cancer among 322 male local undergraduates in UNIMAS. The results showed that only a small percentage of the respondents (12.1%) had a high knowledge and awareness level and less than half (44.7%) showed good perception towards cancer of prostate. Chi-square results indicated that the year of study and study programmes had significant association with knowledge and awareness towards prostate cancer. This study provides preliminary data which are useful for the planning of community-based program to educate the younger adults regarding prostate cancer as well as a basis for further research.