Journal of Human Anatomy & Physiology

Research Article

Utilization of Prostate Serum Antigen (PSA) Screening Services among the Igala People of North Central Nigeria

Akwu PB1, Shaibu GO2* and Omotoso OD1

1Department of Human Anatomy, Kogi State University, Anyigba
2Department of Sociology, Kogi State University, Anyigba
*Address for Correspondence: Shaibu GO, Gabriel Ocholi, Department of Sociology, Kogi State University, Anyigba; E-mail: gshaibu81@yahoo.com
Submission: 30 June, 2019 Accepted: 16 September, 2019 Published: 18 September, 2019
Copyright: © 2019 Akwu PB, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Prostate cancer according to the world Health Organization is one of the silent killers of the African men. It is associated with avalanche health burden in physical, social and economic dimensions. Consequently, early detection has been identified as the most effective intervention and management of this social malady. This study is a descriptive survey which utilized secondary data to investigate the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on the utilization of the prostate screening services among the Igala people of North Central Nigeria at the Kogi State University Teaching Hospital, Anyigba. The substantive issues of this study were the level of utilization of the PSA services, the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on utilization, motivation for PSA screening as well as the standardized PSA levels of patients. The study utilized secondary data obtained from Kogi State University Teaching Hospital. Study data was collected from the information unit of the hospital following informed consent of the hospital management. The data was analysed using multiple regression analysis through the application of SPSS. 20.0. Findings of the study reveals that the level of utilization of the PSA services among the vulnerable population in the study area is low, motivation for screening is by clinical referrals while PSA levels is generally high. The hypotheses tested revealed that socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents are related to utilization with (p=0.00), patients’ PSA levels is also socio-demographically determined as (p=0.12). Recommendations from these findings includes: tailored information, health education and the use of reward system by government and non-governmental organizations.