Knowledge on the male reproductive tract and testicular cancer among adolescents in Austria

PurposeTesticular cancer is the most frequent malignant tumour among young adults. Therefore, regular self-examination for early detection is recommended by all guidelines. The fact that the knowledge of young adults living in Austria on this important topic is unknown, prompted the current investigation. Materials and methodsTo evaluate the knowledge on anatomy and function of the male reproductive tract and of testicular cancer in particular a German questionnaire recently developed by Anheuser et al. (Urologe 2019;58:1331-1337) was applied. This 4-page questionnaire contains mainly multiple-choice questions. This questionnaire was distributed in three different schools to male and female students in the 11th and 12th school level. ResultsA total of 337 students (mean age: 17.3 years; male: n = 183; female: n = 154) completed the questionnaire. In a simple pictogramm, 63% were able to correctly identify the prostate, 87% the testis and 64% the epididymis. Half of the students (49.3%) could describe the function of the testis. The question regarding the age peak of testicular cancer was correctly answered by 81%, yet 18% believed that testicular cancer is caused by the sexual contact. The purpose of the testicular self-examination was correctly answered by only 54.9% with a higher rate for women (67.5% vs. 44.3%, p = 0.001). With a theoretical maximal score of 15, the students reached a mean overall of 10.4 with no sex difference (p > 0.05). Differences were noted for the school type: the highest score was present in the Gymnasium (11.2), followed by the Realgymnasium (10.8) and the HTL (9.8; p = 0.001). ConclusionsThis survey demonstrates relevant knowledge deficits of young adults regarding the male reproductive tract, testicular cancer and self-examination.