Assessment of Knowledge, Practices, and Attitudes Toward Prostate Cancer and Its Screening Among Men Aged 40 Years and Older in the United Arab Emirates: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction:  Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men globally and the fifth greatest cause of cancer-related mortality. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), prostate cancer has been on the rise due to population aging. However, knowledge deficits and screening barriers do exist because of cultural, social, and psychological factors. The objective of this study is to assess the knowledge, practices, and attitudes of prostate cancer and its screening among men aged 40 years and above in the UAE.
Methodology:  A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 5 and October 31, 2024, using a self-administered online questionnaire distributed through social media platforms. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS version 26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).
Results:  A total of 471 responses were analyzed. The median age of participants was 51 ± 12. Most of the respondents were non-healthcare workers with at least a bachelor's degree. Most of the participants were moderately aware of prostate cancer risk factors and symptoms. However, there was a severe lack of awareness of genetic predisposition and racial risk factors. While 80.3% of participants were aware of the role of prostate-specific antigen test in prostate screening, 62.8% recognize the role of a digital rectal examination. The most important barriers to screening were lack of perceived risk, time constraint, and fear of diagnosis.
Conclusion:  Significant knowledge gaps and barriers to prostate screening exist. Health education initiatives targeting cultural stigma with the use of culturally appropriate and accurate information through credible online platforms are necessary.
Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Research Ethics Committee of the Medical Colleges at the University of Sharjah issued approval REC-24-06-11-01-F. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.
(Copyright © 2024, Eladl et al.)