Mammography Screening Disparities in Asian American Women: Findings from the California Health Interview Survey 2015–2016 (Journal of Clinical Oncology)
Summary: Foreign-born Asians were less likely to utilize preventive care due to medicine beliefs, language barriers, insurance coverage, and more. Their perceptions of breast cancer risks and screening benefits for asymptomatic conditions may differ from individuals born in the United States. It is urgent for preventive health professionals to understand screening disparities in Asian Americans.
Findings: Of Non-Hispanic-White (NH-White) and Asian American women aged 40 and above, 78.41% were NH-White, 25.38% were foreign-born, 56.88% spoke only English at home, and 6.44% were not currently insured. The prevalence for self-reported mammography screening in NH-White and Asian American women were 68.06% and 65.97%, respectively. Among Asian American women, the lowest rate of mammograms was in Koreans (55.29%), and Chinese (72.19%) had the highest rate. In NH-White women, place of birth, smoking status, borderline diabetes, high blood pressure, is currently insured, and having a preventive care visit in the past 12 months were significant factors. Within Asian American women, borderline hypertension and having a preventive care visit were significant factors, but not ethnicity.
Findings: The findings indicate that mammogram disparity in relation to socioeconomics, health behaviors, preventive care utilization, and race. Further development of ethnic-specific cancer prevention strategies and policies that address the subgroup differences within the larger racial/ethnic population are needed. Public health outreach and cancer education should target Asian American women with borderline hypertension and no preventive care visits.
This study uses data from the 2015–2016 California Health Interview Surveys (CHIS).
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