Background: Mortality from prostate cancer (PrCA) in African-American (AA) men is significantly higher than in European-American (EA) men.
Methods: Purposive sampling identified 25 AA men >or=45 years for interviews/focus groups. Participants were asked about cancer information-seeking behaviors, capacity to use information, and recommendations for messages and message delivery. Transcripts were analyzed for themes about PrCA communication.
Results: Barriers to information seeking were fear, poor resources, and limited family communication. Participants requested messages stressing men's "ownership" of PrCA delivered "word-of-mouth" by clergymen, AA women, and AA PrCA survivors.
Conclusions: Direct and timely messages about PrCA should be developed for AA men.