Palpation of the testes in draftees: acceptance on the occasion of muster and implication for health promotion.

OBJECTIVES Testicular cancer is the most prevalent malignant neoplasm in young men. The key problem in screening for malignant testicular tumors and their main risk factors (undescended testes and testes which descended only after medical treatment) is to reach the target group of "young men". MATERIALS AND METHODS In five different military medical centers of German Armed Forces, 1600 young draftees were investigated by a standardized interview at recruitment examination between 2001 and 2003. RESULTS Ninety-five percent of respondents reported that they had been palpated at testes during physical examination. The percentage of draftees not palpated at their testes varied between muster centers, but did not depend on the physician's gender. Only two draftees had refused explicitly the palpation of testes. The prevalence of observed pathologic alterations of the testes was 1.69%, including two cases of cryptorchidism, 19 of varicocele, and 6 cases with other benign alterations. CONCLUSIONS The simple and effective examination of testes should not be restricted to draftees, but promoted by compulsory health insurance funds, offered and performed routinely by all physicians who have access to the target group of "young men".