In targeting populations for intervention it is helpful to understand the existing socioeconomic status (SES), therefore, every effort was made to interview men of different socioeconomic and education levels, but as was shown in the demographics the socioeconomic status there was very little difference between blacks and whites in the sample. According to Robbins, et. al., 2000 & Liu, et. al., 2001, people in higher economic status may have an advantage in that they can afford better health insurance and access to health care, and may therefore experience a higher survival rate. In their study men with higher socioeconomic status reported more frequent prostate screening than men in lower SES. In our study, however, there was a lack of variation in screening behavior by race.

More Blacks than Whites indicated that the television was their most important source of information on prostate cancer, followed by regular newspapers and literature received at health centers. Television as a medium for educating men seems to be crucial and should be utilized more by people working with African Americans in the field. When comparing the two groups it appeared that more whites than blacks received information from health centers as well as from their personal physicians, but this was not significant.

This study is not without its limitations. In the present study, there was a sole dependence on self-report measures to gather data. Also, the cross-sectional design disallows any allusion to causality. More sophisticated designs are necessary to establish causality in previous studies. It should be noted also that the sample size was somewhat small especially for White males in the study. However, the intent was to study Blacks, but a cohort of White men was included in order to make comparisons and strengthen the study. Therefore, results may not be representative of all Blacks and Whites in the counties. Most men were surveyed at churches, organizations or at the workplace, and it is possible that those who completed the survey were already actively engaged in prostate cancer screening and education. While there are some important limitations with the study, some of the strengths of the study should be noted as well. This present study sheds important light on the topic characterized by a paucity of empirical analyses. Because of the importance of the subject, this study has implications for health promotion and education of men in general and particularly Black men who tend to have a larger burden of the disease.

Aggressive health promotion for early detection of prostate cancer is likely to increase participation in programs. If we are able to distinguish and enumerate some reasons for lack of early detection especially in black men, and explain attitudes that prevent them from seeking help early, health providers will be better able to translate this into more appropriate service and reduce the disparities that exist between the two groups. The findings may be quite different if we had a larger percent of men from a lower socioeconomic and educational background. We therefore recommend further study with a larger group of men, particularly Black men in lower socioeconomic status. Future studies could include more cultural factors and their impact on early prostate screening.