Abstract

Introduction: African-American Men (AAM) have a high incidence of morbidity and mortality related to prostate cancer (PrCa). The rate of incidence for AAM developing PrCa is 60% higher and the mortality rate is 2-3 times higher than Caucasian men. The outcome goal of this PrCa health promotion project was to improve discussions about PrCa screenings between the healthcare provider and participants during a shared decision-making exchange.

Method: Databases from 2009-2016 and 2004 were accessed to perform literature review on PrCa screenings for AAM. Inclusion criteria included age 45-65, English speaking, and scholarly journals. Articles included CINAHL, MEDLINE, Proquest Health and Medical Complete, and the Cochrane Library. A pretest was administered to AAM, 45 years and older, to determine baseline knowledge of PrCa. An educational intervention regarding PrCa/screenings (brochure and tip sheet) was provided to the intervention group. A posttest was administered to parish participants to determine outcomes. An evaluation form was provided at the end of the sessions to determine if participates planned to discuss PrCa screenings within the next 6 months with a healthcare provider following the study.

Results:  Pretest mean to determine baseline knowledge about PrCa was 71.988 (SD=12.086), posttest mean was moderately higher at 82.681 (SD=11.884). Significant paired-samples correlation found, r=0.627, p<0.01, with the results of paired-samples t-test indicating significant differences between pretest and posttest knowledge, t (15)=-4.129, p<0.001.

Conclusion: Results show individuals in the intervention group were likely to discuss PrCa screenings with a healthcare provider within the next six months (81.3%) compared with the control group (35.3%). A significant difference in scores found between pretest and posttest measures, indicating the efficacy of the intervention.

Keywords: Prostate neoplasm; African American; Screenings; Cancer