Determinants of cancer screening in Asian-Americans.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2016

Institution/Department

CORE

Journal Title

Cancer causes & control : CCC

MeSH Headings

Adult, Aged, Asian Americans, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Breast Neoplasms, Colorectal Neoplasms, Cross-Sectional Studies, Early Detection of Cancer, Female, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Male, Prostatic Neoplasms, Social Class, United States, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Abstract

PURPOSE: Recent data suggest that Asian-Americans (AsAs) are more likely to present with advanced disease when diagnosed with cancer. We sought to determine whether AsAs are under-utilizing recommended cancer screening.

METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System comprising of AsAs and non-Hispanic White (NHW) community-dwelling individuals (English and Spanish speaking) eligible for colorectal, breast, cervical, or prostate cancer screening according to the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommendations. Age, education and income level, residence location, marital status, health insurance, regular access to healthcare provider, and screening were extracted. Complex samples logistic regression models quantified the effect of race on odds of undergoing appropriate screening. Data were analyzed in 2015.

RESULTS: Weighted samples of 63.3, 33.3, 47.9, and 30.3 million individuals eligible for colorectal, breast, cervical, and prostate cancer screening identified, respectively. In general, AsAs were more educated, more often married, had higher levels of income, and lived in urban/suburban residencies as compared to NHWs (all p < 0.05). In multivariable analyses, AsAs had lower odds of undergoing colorectal (odds ratio [OR] 0.78, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.63-0.96), cervical (OR 0.45, 95 % CI 0.36-0.55), and prostate cancer (OR 0.55, 95 % CI 0.39-0.78) screening and similar odds of undergoing breast cancer (OR 1.29, 95 % CI 0.92-1.82) screening as compared to NHWs.

CONCLUSIONS: AsAs are less likely to undergo appropriate screening for colorectal, cervical, and prostate cancer. Contributing reasons include limitations in healthcare access, differing cultural beliefs on cancer screening and treatment, and potential physician biases. Interventions such as increasing healthcare access and literacy may improve screening rates.

ISSN

1573-7225

First Page

989

Last Page

998

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