title: Barriers to medical help-seeking among older men with prostate cancer.
abstract: Men's disinclination to seek medical help has been linked to higher rates of morbidity and mortality compared to women. However, previous studies were conducted predominantly with healthy, young, and middle-aged men. We explored the perceived medical barriers to help-seeking in older men with prostate cancer.
  
  
  
  20 men with prostate cancer took part in semistructured interviews, which were analyzed using thematic analysis.
  
  
  
  Three themes were identified related to negative attitudes toward help-seeking: male gender role; fear of the health condition, medical and treatment procedures; and embarrassment as a consequence of medical examinations, communication with health (and nonhealth) professionals, and the disclosure of sexual-related symptoms.
  
  
  
  The barriers identified in our study strengthen the evidence for the impact of traditional masculinity on help-seeking in men.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology , University of Bath , Bath , UK.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Medina-Perucha
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Bath , Bath , UK.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yousaf
authors.affiliation: c Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London , London , UK.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: d Centre for Technology Enabled Health Research, Coventry University , Coventry , UK.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Grunfeld
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D030881:Disclosure; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear; D005783:Gender Identity; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological
keywords: help-seeking; masculinity; men; prostate cancer; thematic analysis