Benign testicular disorders, awareness, knowledge, help-seeking males
Disorders that affect the testes can range from painless and benign to debilitating and life threatening. Despite the
availability of literature on the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of benign testicular disorders (BTD), very little is
known about men’s awareness of these conditions. The aim of this review was to extract and analyze evidence from
studies that explored males’ awareness of BTD. Four e-databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and PubMed)
were thoroughly searched and four articles met the review inclusion criteria. The quality of the included studies was
appraised and data were extracted and cross-checked using a standardized data extraction table. It was determined
that participants lacked education about testicular self-examination and scrotal signs and symptoms which contributed
to their lack of awareness of BTD. Help seeking in the event of scrotal abnormalities was suboptimal which is alarming
given the acuteness of some BTD such as testicular torsion. Individuals who are at risk for health disparities were
underrepresented in the reviewed literature. Findings from this review highlight the need to address barriers to
BTD knowledge and help seeking. This could be achieved through making use of past interventions that succeeded
in increasing men’s awareness of testicular cancer such as university campaigns and mass media. From a practical
standpoint, clinicians must be encouraged to educate young men about BTD. This could be attained through tailoring
creative educational interventions that are sensitive to the needs of individuals who are at risk for health disparities