Table 2 Summarized study findings

Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of women about the importance of prostate cancer screening (Blanchard et al. [19]).

1. The mean score for women’s knowledge about prostate cancer and screening guidelines was determined to be 6.99 ± 3.54 out of 15 points, which were equally scored to reflect knowledge score stratification.

2. Educational level and income were discovered to have increased the mean score for women’s knowledge.

3. Women who disclosed their familiarity with cancer of the prostate and available screening recommendations recorded higher scores in knowledge assessment.

4. Only 54.3% of women knew about the asymptomatic presentation of prostate cancer in the early stages.

5. About 37% of women failed to recognize age as a risk factor for prostate cancer.

6. 83.9% of women were know that men, symptomatic or not, should screen for prostate cancer.

7. 54% of married and 42% of single women recognized the early detection of prostate cancer as the key importance of screening.

8. Married (41%) and single (32%) women agreed that men feared prostate cancer screening results as well as the application of the digital rectal examination for screening.

Women are not knowledgeable about prostate cancer. An educational intervention model, targeting women, could equip women to contribute to the early detection of prostate cancer by encouraging men to screen routinely for the disease.

1. Women might not have documented true responses to questionnaire items since a self-reporting technique was employed in the study.

2. The study was limited to only women fluent in the English language and hence, findings could not be extended to cover all women in New Orleans.

3. The use of the convenience sampling method in the study exposed the study to participants’ selection bias and hence, a negative impact on the generalization of study findings.

Assessment of preventive health knowledge and behaviors of African-American and Afro-Caribbean women in urban settings (Brown et al. [25]).

1. Generally, the knowledge score of women on the symptoms of prostate cancer was appreciable as the mean knowledge score was found to be 20.27 ± 5.51 on a scale of 27. Also, the scores of participants ranged from 6 to 27.

2. Although the knowledge score covered all the domains of medical conditions that were studied, 3 out of the 4 questionnaire items that evaluated women’s knowledge about the symptoms of prostate cancer recorded correct response in 63 to 67% of women.

3. Women who knew about the existence of prostate cancer in their families had higher knowledge scores.

4. 24% of women responded that prostate cancer is asymptomatic; whilst 65%, 67%, and 63% respectively noted the difficulty in passing urine, dysuria, and the need to frequently pass urine as symptoms.

5. Women found it difficult in identifying tools applicable to prostate cancer screening.

6. 46%, 61%, and 38% of women respectively selected prostate-specific antigen (PSA), digital rectal examination (DRE), and x-ray as prostate cancer screening tools.

Women are more knowledgeable about the symptoms of prostate cancer but know very little about prostate cancer screening tools. An intervention is needed to upgrade the knowledge of women on the symptoms and screening tools applicable to prostate cancer.

1. The study suffered various forms of selection bias as the participants were conveniently selected from salons that were interested in the health promotion initiatives of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH).

2. The study was restricted to women who used the services of the selected salons and hence, the study findings could not be a true reflection of all New York women.

3. There was an observation of a high number of correctly answered questions.

Awareness and uptake of colorectal, breast, cervical, and prostate cancer screening tests in Spain (Carrasco-Garrido et al. [26]).

1. 51.56% of Spanish women knew PSA as a prostate cancer screening tool.

2. Education and social status significantly increased women’s awareness of PSA as a prostate cancer screening tool.

The use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer screening is poorly known to women. Women should be comprehensively educated on screening tools.

1. The validity and reliability of the survey instrument were not done in the study population.

2. Respondents might have given socially acceptable responses when their awareness about PSA was tested.

3. Women who knew about PSA as a prostate cancer screening tool might have been high in the study.

4. Knowledge scores were not adequately stratified or described.

Leveraging the family influence of women in prostate cancer efforts targeting African American Men (Okoro et al .[27]).

1. Although knowledge scores were not stratified, on a 25 knowledge-score scale, women’s mean score was 11.4 ± 5.1.

2. No idea accounted for 29.1% of women’s responses to prostate cancer knowledge.

3. The focused group discussion involving women revealed an overall poor prostate cancer knowledge.

4. The PSA as a prostate cancer confirmatory tool and the recommended age for universal prostate cancer screening received the worst correct response rates.

5. Only 17.5% of women knew elevated PSA levels did not exclusively indicate the existence of prostate cancer.

6. As low as 13.5% of women knew universal prostate cancer screening is not exclusively a recommendation for only men above 50 years.

7. The educational status of women greatly increased knowledge scores.

8. 62.3%, 57.2%, and 38.7% of women respectively identified the presence of a first-degree relative, being a man of African descent, and excessive truncal obesity as risk factors of prostate cancer.

9. Women (54.5%) knew the asymptomatic nature of prostate cancer.

10. 47.5% of women recognized DRE as a tool for the early detection of prostate cancer.

11. Women (40.7%) indicated the need for risk assessment before the initiation of prostate cancer screening, whilst 54.2% agreed with the recommendation that men who are 40–45 years and are at risk for the development of the disease should seek adequate health information from registered healthcare providers.

The knowledge and awareness of women about prostate cancer are not appreciable. An educational intervention model can increase prostate cancer awareness and knowledge among women.

1. The study included only African-American women and hence, findings cannot be extended to cover all women in America.

2. The study suffered selection bias as participants were conveniently sampled.

3. The survey instrument did not undergo validation and reliability assessment in the study population.

4. The study engaged relatively young participants and hence findings could not be an exact representation of all age groups.

5. The study participants, being young, might have accounted for the observed low knowledge scores.

6. Knowledge scores were not adequately stratified or described.

Prostate cancer knowledge and decision making among African-American men and women in the southeastern United States (Owens et al. [18]).

1. Women had limited knowledge about prostate cancer.

2. The only signs and symptoms of prostate cancer women were conversant with included urinary frequency, difficulty in urinating, an enlarged prostate gland, and erectile dysfunction.

3. Women acknowledged knowing very little about prostate cancer and called for education.

4. Most women did not know the location of the prostate gland in addition to the available screening tools. Nevertheless, the PSA was mentioned.

5. Some women perceived colonoscopy as a prostate cancer screening tool.

6. Risk factors that attracted much attention from women included; poor diet (high red meat and fatty food consumption) and inadequate physical activity.

7. Other risk factors that did not attract much attention included increased age (where age greater or equal to 45 years was tagged the highest risk), stressful lifestyle, family history of the disease, being of African decency, poor screening habit, cigarette smoking, and poor access to quality healthcare.

8. Women erroneously perceived a man’s sexuality and regularity of sexual intercourse as risk factors.

The knowledge of women on prostate cancer was minimal. With education on prostate cancer, women’s knowledge was improved. There is a need for a community-based public health intervention geared towards educating women on prostate cancer.

1. The relatively small sample size of the interest population hindered the results’ generalizability.

2. The study was limited to African-Americans and hence, findings could not be generalized to cover other races/ethnic diversities in the study site.

3. The participants were conveniently sampled and hence, the poor generalizability of results.

Awareness of prostate cancer among the general public: findings of an independent international survey (Schulman et al. [28]).

1. 100 women each from 7 countries were involved in the study.

2. 28% of female respondents spontaneously included prostate cancer in their list of available cancers whilst 69%, who did not initially list prostate cancer, agreed to the existence of the disease when asked a closed-ended question.

3. Women in the UK (40%), USA (20%), France (23%), Germany (24%), Italy (21%), Spain (26%), and Sweden (39%) were spontaneously aware of prostate cancer. When prompted, additional respective 58%, 76%, 70%, 75%, 76%, 69% and 61% of women recognized the existence of prostate cancer.

4. Women in Spain (36%), the USA (35%), Italy (23%), Sweden (22%), the UK (17%), France (17%), and Germany (9%) recognized PSA as a prostate cancer screening tool.

5. 20% of women in the USA, 14% in France, 8% in Spain, 6% in the UK, 6% in Germany, 5% in Italy, and 2% in Sweden recognized DRE as a prostate cancer screening tool.

6. Mistakenly, 37% of women in Spain, 22% in Italy, 17% in France, 13% in the UK, 10% in Germany, 11% in Sweden, and 5% in the USA recognized the use of urine as a prostate cancer screening sample.

7. The inability of women to recognize at least a prostate cancer screening tool followed the trend: Germany (71%), Sweden (60%), the UK (56%), the USA (53%), France (52%), Italy (44%), and Spain (41%).

The recognition of the basic prostate cancer screening tools by women was very low. The general awareness of prostate cancer was lacking in women. To promote the early detection of prostate cancer in an attempt to reduce mortality and educational intervention, targeting women is needed.

1. The study failed to indicate the percentage of women who were able to identify the signs and symptoms, and risk factors of prostate cancer.

2. The number of participants from the various countries was relatively small to promote the generalizability of the results.

3. Respondents might have given socially approved responses since data collection was through a telephone interview.

4. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were not determined in the study population.

5. Knowledge scores were not adequately stratified or described.

An evaluation of the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of African-American men and their female significant others regarding prostate cancer screening (Webb et al. [29]).

1. Women disclosed that prostate cancer may occur in men who are or greater than 65 years old. However, women were not sure if a diet has caused a reduction in the age at which men develop prostate cancer.

2. During the FDG, some women agreed that prostate cancer screening starts when men celebrate their 40th birthday.

3. The use of blood as a screening sample for prostate cancer detection was mentioned by women. However, women reported the need for a physical body examination in addition to blood analysis.

The knowledge women possess about prostate cancer screening has appreciable gaps. Educating women on prostate cancer screening is of equal importance as compared to male prostate cancer education.

1. Results have low generalizability due to the utilization of the convenience sampling strategy. 2. Validity and reliability studies of the FGD questions were not done in the study population.

3. The target number of study subjects needed for the FDG was not met. Hence, the study sample was inadequate.