Enhancing Knowledge, Beliefs, and Intention to Screen for Prostate Cancer via Different Health Educational Interventions: a Literature Review

Background: Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting men globally, constituting thesixth leading cause of cancer related death in males, and the eleventh leading cause of death from cancer in allage groups. In Jordan, prostate cancer is the third most common cancer in the male population, accounting forone third (6.2%) of cancer related deaths and in 2010 alone, 218 (9.4%) new cases were identified.
Objective: Toassess the effectiveness of different health education interventions aimed at enhancing knowledge, beliefs andintention to screen for prostate cancer. Materials and
Methods: A literature search from January 2000 to April 2015was conducted using the key words “prostate disease,” “educational program,” “knowledge,” “prostate cancer,”“demographic factors and prostate cancer,” “knowledge and prostate cancer,” “education for patients withprostate cancer,” “factors that affect intention to screen,” “knowledge, beliefs, and intention to screen for prostatecancer,” “impact of prostate educational program on beliefs,” and “impact of educational program on intention toscreen.”
Results: Majority of studies reviewed indicated that men had low levels of knowledge regarding prostatecancer, and mild to moderate beliefs with good intention to screen for prostate cancer.
Conclusions: Most studiesindicated that men’s knowledge levels about prostate cancer were poor and they had mild to moderate beliefsand intentions to screen for prostate cancer. Therefore, development of an assessment strategy based on theHealth Belief Model seems essential. An effectively designed and implemented educational program can helpidentify the needs and priorities of the target population.