Testicular Self-examination: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Male Medical Students in Alfajr College

Original Article

 

Testicular Self-examination: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Male Medical Students in Alfajr College for Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan, 2022.

Ahmed S. A. Alawad¹, Rayan I. H. Mohamed², Egbal A.B. Abukaraig³

¹Graduate of Medicine Program, Alfajr College for Science and Technology.

²Research and Publication Coordinator, Research and Development Centre, Alfajr College for Science and Technology.

³Director of the Research and Development Centre, Alfajr College for Science and Technology.

*Corresponding author

Rayan Ibrahim Hamid Mohamed, Research and Development Centre, Alfajr College for Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan.

Email: rayan.ibrahim.hamid@gmail.com

 Abstract

Background: Testicular cancer is one of the malignancies of young adult males, especially between the ages of 15 and 35. Although this type of cancer is relatively uncommon, being only 1% of all cancers globally, yet its incidence has doubled over the past 40 years. Testicular self-examination (TSE) involves examining and palpating the testes to detect potential changes that may indicate early signs of testicular cancer.

Aim: To determine Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about testicular self-examination among male medical students in Alfajr College for Science and Technology, 2022.

Materials and Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional, institutional-based study conducted among male medical students, at all five levels in the College. The sample size was estimated at 149 distributed by stratified sampling technique over the five levels of medical students. Self-administered interview using structured questionnaire designed by the researcher and approved by the supervisor was used, then it was entered, revised, and analyzed using SPSS version 25.   

Results: The study involved 148 participants with 99% response rate.  Most of the students’ age (79.7%) ranged between 15-26 years. Only 44 (29.7%) of the students had ever heard about TSE. The overall knowledge of students about TSE was 11.36%; and 20.45% had favorable attitude towards TSE.

However, practicing TSE regularly was rather poor being only performed by 2.27%.

These results are less than reports from other countries in the region like Nigeria, Ethiopia and Uganda, where studies from these countries showed more knowledge and practice among their male population about testicular cancer and TSE.

Conclusion: The low rate of knowledge and practice of TSE among medical students in Alfajr College is worrisome. This probably reflects the paucity of health educational programs about testicular cancer among males in Sudan compared to other countries in the region. This preliminary report draws attention to this important issue and probably more research and action are needed in this respect.  

Keywords: Testicular cancer, Testicular self-examination, knowledge, Attitude, Practice.

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