Global Research Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology

ISSN 2360-7920

An evaluation of the factors that might influence the mortality and QOL of Ghanaian men; including the impact of cultural issues and a healthy relationship


To examine the factors that might influence the mortality and QOL of Ghanaian men; including the impact of cultural issues and a healthy relationship. To examine the literature in violation to the factors that might influence the mortality and QOL of Ghanaian men; including the impact of cultural issues and a healthy relationship and also looking at the health service and provision in Ghana with the use of Herbal remedies. The physical and psychological impact of definitive treatment, important of sexuality and support available. The factors that might influence the mortality and QOL of Ghanaian men; including the impact of cultural issues and a healthy relationship appears higher as Ghanaian men belongs to African decent and in the black community. According to the prostate cancer UK 1 in 4 black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. Prostate cancer in Ghanaian men appears increasing with disparities in prostate cancer outcomes. From the research, I hypothesize that the quality of treatment received and the health related quality of life of prostate cancer patients will differ according to race and access to healthcare, even after accounting for patient and disease characteristics, type of primary treatment and other factors. Wrong treatments option being provided and over reliance on herbal remedies and herbal centers not manned by expert in men’s Health and claiming of finding treatment for Pca also affecting the QOL of Ghanaian men. Conflict of interest in the Ghana health sector between Herbal practitioners and medical practitioners is also a factor contributing to increased mortality amongst patient. The factors that might influence the mortality and QOL of Ghanaian men; including the impact of cultural issues and a healthy relationship appears higher among black community .Prostate cancer (Pca) mortality rates for black men are the highest  among racial and ethnic groups in the world. This disparity is even more pronounced in Ghanaian men, as the Ghana news Agency has stated that Ghana has exceeded global prostate limits as the country records 200 cases out of every 100,000 men as against 170 world-wide, a survey by the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital revealed. Racial differences in healthcare access, care seeking, patient characteristics, and prostate cancer aggressiveness have been proposed as underlying causes of disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, but previous studies have been based on selected   patient populations, small numbers of African Americans or limited data, and very little is known about racial differences in the quality of treatment or the health related quality of life (HRQOL) of prostate cancer patients. Baseline data from the North Carolina – Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PcaP), a multidisciplinary population-based study of prostate cancer aggressiveness at diagnosis (DAMD 17-03-2-0052), demonstrate racial differences among North Carolina patients with regard to health insurance (15% of AA vs. 2% of CA with no insurance or Medicaid only, 39% vs. 13% with Medicare/VA insurance only), income (39% vs. 11% at or below 200% of the poverty level), usual source of care (68% vs. 90% at a private doctor’s uoffice), and primary  treatment (63% vs. 72% radical prostatectomy (RP), 2% vs. 5% robotic RP). These preliminary findings suggest that differences in access and treatment may at least partly explain disparities in prostate cancer outcomes. This literature highlights the potentially significant factors that might influence the mortality and QOL of Ghanaian men; including the impact of cultural issues and a healthy relationship.

 

Keywords: Prostate cancer, Healthy Relationship, Quality of Life, Health Service and Provision in Ghana, Ghanaian Men.