Date of Conferral

1-1-2011

Degree

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

School

Public Health

Advisor

James Rohrer

Abstract

African American men have the highest prostate cancer occurrence and deaths of any population, yet many are unaware of screening opportunities or prognoses if diagnosed with the disease. The focus of this study was to learn whether a web-based prostate health education decision aid would increase prostate cancer knowledge, declared intention to be screened, and the likelihood of scheduling a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. The transtheoretical model of behavior change served as the theoretical framework for the study to assess readiness to adopt new behaviors. A total of 128 African American men between the ages of 40--65 without a history of prostate cancer participated in the study and were divided into 2 nonequivalent groups. The control group had 48 participants, and the intervention group had 80. After reviewing the web-based intervention, participants completed a demographic questionnaire, The Prostate Knowledge Questionnaire, and an Intent-to-Screen Tool. Mean differences in knowledge change were compared while adjusting for covariates using least squares regression. There was no significant improvement in the Prostate Knowledge Change score between the experimental and control groups. Therefore, the alternate hypothesis cannot be accepted. The social change implications suggest that the web-based decision aid studied in this project may not be the best tool to increase knowledge about prostate cancer screening. Therefore, more research is needed regarding ways to reach and inform African American men about the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening to foster informed decision making.

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