Barriers to prostate cancer screening

Sally P. Weinrich, William A. Reynolds, Martha S. Tingen, Carol Reis Starr

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Scopus citations

Abstract

The revised prostate cancer screening guidelines of the American Cancer Society recommend that men be informed of the risks associated with prostate cancer screening. However, there are no published studies on men's fear of impotence and its impact on prostate cancer screening. In addition, little is known about barriers to prostate cancer screening when the two main barriers of cost and lack of knowledge are eliminated. This study reports the association between barriers and free prostate cancer screening after a prostate cancer education program. All men were called 1 month after a prostate cancer education program and asked: 'What would (or did) make it hard for you to get your prostate checkup done?' A total postbarrier score was created to measure how many barriers each man indicated. The following barriers were significant in predicting participation in prostate cancer screening: 'put it off,' 'doctor hours not convenient,' 'didn't know kind of doctor,' 'didn't know where to go,' and 'refuse to go.' Fear of impotence was not a significant barrier. Suggestions for reducing barriers to prostate cancer screening are given.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)117-121
Number of pages5
JournalCancer Nursing
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2000

Keywords

  • African American men
  • Barriers
  • Digital rectal examination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Oncology(nursing)

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