African-American men and their reflections and thoughts on prostate cancer.

The purpose of this study was to assess African-American males' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding prostate cancer and early detection methods. This was a cross sectional study conducted with 67 (N = 67) African-American men to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding prostate cancer and prostate cancer early detection methods Data collection occurred at several urban churches in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Findings from this study suggest that 91% of the men did not consider prostate cancer screening embarrassing or painful; 86.9% agreed that their physician would think they should have a Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) and Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) tests performed, and believed in the efficacy of early prostate cancer screening However, 30% of the men would not want to know if they had prostate cancer, and 53.2% did not believe they were likely to get prostate cancer in the future. The implications and results of this study support the need for ongoing prostate education and screening programs for African-American men.