Prostate Cancer Knowledge Among Male Postgraduate Students In The Uk: Domain-Specific Knowledge Gaps And Socio-Demographic Differentials

Background: Prostate cancer knowledge is important for informed risk perception, recognition of possible symptoms and engagement with diagnostic services. However, relatively high educational attainment may not translate into comprehensive disease-specific knowledge, and aggregate knowledge scores can conceal important gaps across individual knowledge domains. Aim: To examine the pattern and socio-demographic distribution of prostate cancer knowledge among male postgraduate students at a UK university, with particular attention to domain-specific knowledge gaps. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among male postgraduate students at the University of Sunderland, North East England. The minimum calculated sample size was 349, with recruitment increased to 400 to accommodate anticipated non-response. A total of 367 completed questionnaires were analysed. The questionnaire assessed general prostate cancer knowledge, symptoms and treatment, risk factors, and socio-demographic characteristics. Knowledge was examined at item and cumulative levels. Frequencies and percentages were calculated, and Pearson's Chi-square tests assessed associations between cumulative knowledge and age, marital status, academic faculty and ethnicity. Statistical significance was set at p< .05. Results: Of the 367 participants, 58.0% were classified as having high cumulative prostate cancer knowledge and 42.0% as having low knowledge. Knowledge varied substantially across individual items. Difficulty urinating (75.2%), family history (73.6%), surgical treatment (73.1%), older age (72.5%) and bloody urine (72.2%) were among the more frequently recognised items. In contrast, only 32.4% recognised ethnicity as a prostate cancer risk factor. Academic faculty was significantly associated with cumulative knowledge, χ²(4) = 44.396, p< .001, with the proportion classified as having high knowledge ranging from 29.3% among Technology students to 76.2% among Health Sciences and Wellbeing students. Age approached but did not reach statistical significance, χ²(4) = 8.812, p = .051. No significant associations were observed for marital status (p = .104) or ethnicity (p = .323). Conclusion: Prostate cancer knowledge among male postgraduate students was uneven despite a majority being classified as having high cumulative knowledge. The aggregate classification concealed important domain-specific gaps, particularly in recognition of ethnicity as a risk factor, while knowledge differed substantially across academic faculties. University-based prostate cancer education should therefore address specific knowledge deficits rather than assume that postgraduate educational attainment is accompanied by comprehensive disease-specific knowledge.