Description

ABSTRACT

Background: Testicular cancer is the most common malignancy affecting men between the ages of 15-35 years, although, if detected early is one of the most curable cancers. Despite the increasing incidence of testicular cancer, many studies have noted that young men are uninformed about this tumour and its dominance in their age group, unaware of symptoms and hardly ever practice testicular self-examination, and it is the basis for this study which assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of testicular self-examination (TSE) among male students of faculty of Health Sciences in Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey design and a sample of two hundred and thirty four (234) selected through a cluster and simple random sampling techniques were employed for this study. The target population comprised of male students of faculty of Health Science, IMSU, Owerri. Self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data and analysis of findings was done using descriptive statistics of frequency, percentages and mean; and was presented using tables. Results: The findings from the study showed that 40.6% of the respondents have knowledge of TSE. The respondents had negative attitude towards TSE with an average mean score of 2.3. Most of the respondents opined that they are not willing or to advice a relation/friend to perform TSE, there is no need to make TSE a routine check for males in the doctor’s clinic and they feel embarrassed performing TSE. They also affirmed that TSE is not important. Majority (63.7%) of the respondents had never practiced TSE. Conclusion: The male students of Faculty of Health Sciences, IMSU, Owerri have low theoretical knowledge of testicular self-examination. They have negative attitudes towards testicular self-examination and equally exhibited low practice of testicular self-examination. Recommendation: The National Ministry of Health (Nigeria) should conduct a massive public awareness on male sexual health and that testicular examination should be included as part of routine medical examination for males in clinics and for school entry.

 Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Testicular Self-Examination