Wives' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Prostate Cancer and Prostate Cancer Screening Among African American Men

African American men have the highest incidence and mortality rates of prostate cancer in the United States and the world. The purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge and attitudes of wives regarding prostate cancer and prostate cancer screening among African American men 40 to 65 years old, to evaluate how involved the wives are in addressing this disease. A correlational, non-experimental design was used to investigate the relationship between wives' knowledge and attitudes regarding the disease and screening, with the health belief model as a guide. The research questions focused on the relationship of the wives' knowledge and attitudes when education and income are considered. A sample of 154 wives was recruited from African American churches in metropolitan Phoenix. A researcher-designed survey was used to collect data on the respondents' characteristics and the variables of knowledge, attitudes, education, and income. Descriptive statistics, logistic regression, and Spearman rho were used for the analysis. The results showed a positive relationship between wives' knowledge of prostate cancer and screening, and no relationship between wives' attitudes and screening. Wives with more education and higher incomes tended to have higher scores on the knowledge section. Attitudes toward screening were positively correlated with income, but not the total number of years of academic education completed. This study leads to positive social change by providing information to public health professionals on the role that wives may play regarding prostate cancer and screenings to engage their husbands in a dialog about this health issue.