Screening and early detection among racial and ethnic minority women

doi:10.1053/sonu.2001.25945

Seminars in Oncology Nursing

Volume 17, Issue 3, August 2001, Pages 159-170

https://doi.org/10.1053/sonu.2001.25945 Get rights and content

Objectives:

To highlight sociocultural factors reported to influence and strategies to promote breast and cervical cancer screening and early detection behaviors of racial and ethnic minority women.

Data Sources:

Published articles, book chapters, and reports.

Conclusions:

The most successful strategies for promoting screening and early detection among racial and ethnic minority women are collaborative and include approaches that are culturally sensitive and appropriate.

Nursing Implications:

Intercultural and intracultural differences in racial and ethnic minority women challenge nurses to explore strategies that focus on the health care provider, the health care delivery system, and the individual woman within the context of the woman's culture.

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Cited by (17)

Perceptions of breast health awareness in Black British women
2011, European Journal of Oncology Nursing
Citation Excerpt :
The US literature identified a range of barriers that may impede BCS behaviour. These include reduced social and extended family support; level of acculturation; immigration status and ethnicity (Buelow et al., 1998; Katapodi et al., 2002; Coward, 2005; Kapp et al., 2009; Smith et al., 2001; Welch et al., 2005), as well as fear of being stigmatized and spiritual orientation (Flax and Earp, 1999; Russell et al., 2006; Baquet and Commiskey, 2000; Coward, 2005). In this study, all ten women acknowledged that neither religion nor cultural issues would prohibit them from undertaking BSE.
Breast cancer is a global concern. Published studies indicate that 43% of Black and ethnic minority women interviewed have reported that they did not practice breast awareness because they did not know the relevant breast changes that occur in breast cancer. Black women are also more likely to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer when it is in an advanced stage. This pilot study aimed to address the views of Black British women on breast health awareness and breast health screening practices.
In this qualitative study I used semi-structured interviews were used to investigate breast health perceptions, practices and education in a pilot sample of ten women.
Women held numerous perceptions of breast cancer which ranged from no knowledge to well informed through receiving extensive education. Two out of ten women were relatively uneducated with regard to breast self examination (BSE). The remaining eight women participated in a variety of screening routines which varied from undertaking BSE everyday to once every few months. Women’s experience of breast health education was also variable. One woman, younger woman, had not received any health education advice in relation to breast health awareness or BSE. The remaining nine women had received some health advice following visit to their General Practitioners, Medical consultant, media information or as a result of participating in mammographic screening.
Black British women require health education that focuses on breast cancer and its associated risk factors, technique of BSE, and national breast cancer screening recommendations.
Black women and breast health: A review of the literature
2011, European Journal of Oncology Nursing
Citation Excerpt :
This can be achieved using culturally sensitive videotapes/CDs, informative websites with downloadable information on BSE, a self assessment tool on breast cancer and breast cancer screening and the provision of contact sites for more information such as the breast cancer campaign and Susan Komen charity. Whatever health education interventions that are used they need to be sensitive and sufficiently collaborative to meet the informational needs of the women involved (Smith et al., 2001). To assess the efficacy of interventions employed, measures should be in place to evaluate their success such as assessing the number of Black women who participate in the on-line self assessment on breast cancer and breast cancer screening but also the uptake of breast health awareness information.
In the UK, it is known that screening inequalities exist involving ethnic minority groups such as Black women (Patnick, 2009). To date, there is limited UK data on Black British women and breast health awareness. Black British women appear to be an underrepresented group in breast cancer studies (Breast Cancer Care, 2004, Breast Cancer Care, 2005). This literature review aimed to explore Black women’s perceptions of breast health and factors that influence breast cancer screening practices.
A literature search for the period 1994 to September 2009 was undertaken using BNI, CINAHL, PubMed, OSH-ROM, PsyInfo, Google scholar, and Scopus databases. Key words used included: breast cancer, breast health, African American women, Black British women, black women, breast cancer screening, qualitative studies. Hand-searching was also done, and reference lists of papers were examined for relevant studies.
Black women hold a variety of views and perceptions on the risk that breast cancer poses. These perceptions are strongly related to existing knowledge, related stigmatization, spiritual and religious beliefs, all of which can adversely influence motivation to engage in self-breast examination and breast cancer screening.
US based studies identified several influential factors: religion, educational awareness of breast cancer screening, breast health awareness. Breast health interventions and research are needed to increase breast health awareness in Black British women.
Pain predicts non-adherence to pap smear screening among middle-aged African American women
2005, Preventive Medicine
Middle-aged African American women have the highest incidence and mortality of invasive cervical cancer in the United States and the lowest adherence to pap smear screening.
In 2001, we identified factors associated with non-adherence to screening recommendations using three focus group interviews and subsequently developed a questionnaire administered to 144 African American women aged 45 to 65 years.
The perception that the Pap test was painful was associated with non-adherence to screening recommendations (OR = 4.78; 95%CI: 1.67–13.7). Difficulty to pay for the office visit coupled with perceived pain was associated with a nearly sixfold increase in risk of non-adherence (OR = 5.8; 95%CI: 2.8–15.5). Previously identified barriers to screening including lower education and socioeconomic status, poor access to care, knowledge of and exposure to known risk factors of invasive cervical cancer, cancer fatalism, and perceived racism were not independently associated with non-adherence.
These data suggest that, among middle-aged African American women, future interventions addressing pain during a Pap test will likely increase acceptability of and adherence to cervical cancer screening. Pain could be addressed either by providing information during the pap test and/or using smaller lubricated speculums.
Turkish and Moroccan Dutch women’s views of using a self-sampling kit for human papillomavirus testing as a tool for cervical cancer screening: What are the barriers and the motivators?
2021, Women's Health
Factors contributing to delayed diagnosis of cancer among Aboriginal people in Australia: A qualitative study
2016, BMJ Open
A two-center study of Muslim women's views of breast cancer and breast health practices in Pakistan and the UK
2010, Journal of Cancer Education

View all citing articles on Scopus

^*: This article is the result of the authors' independent research and does not represent the views of the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Health and Human Services, or the US Government.

View full text

Screening and early detection among racial and ethnic minority women*

Objectives:

Data Sources:

Conclusions:

Nursing Implications:

Prev Med

Semin Oncol Nurs

Womens Health Issues

Womens Health Issues

Prev Med

Prev Med

Prev Med

Cancer Nurs

Am J Prev Med

Changes in the use of screening mammography: Evidence from the 1987 and 1990 National Health Interview Surveys

Am J Public Health

Racial differences in survival from breast cancer: Results from the National Cancer Institute Black/White Cancer Survival Study

JAMA

Cancer Facts and Figures-2001

Implementing recommendations for the early detection of breast and cervical cancer among low-income women

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep

Mental health issues in African-American women

NY Acad Sci

Racial/ethnic patterns of cancer in the United States 1988–1992

Impact of breast cancer on Asian American and Anglo American women

Cult Med Psychiatry

Ethnic differences and factors related to breast cancer survival in Hawaii

Int J Epidemiol

Trends in self-reported use of mammograms (1989–1997) and Papanicolaou tests (1991–1997)-Behavioral risk factor surveillance system

MMWR Morbid Mortal Wkly Rep

A pilot study of cancer knowledge and screening behaviors of Vietnamese and Cambodian women

Health Care Women Int

Cultural influences on quality of life

Breast cancer screening and related attitudes among Filipino- American women

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev

Attitudes about breast cancer and mammography: Racial, income, and educational differences

Women Health

Knowledge beliefs, attitudes, and cancer screening among inner-city African-American women

J Natl Med Assoc

Mammography utilization and related attitude among Korean-American women

Women Health

Barriers to breast and cervical screening among Vietnamese-American women

Am J Prev Med

Perceptions and knowledge of breast cancer among African-American women residing in public housing

Am J Prev Med

Economically disadvantaged females: Perceptions of breast cancer and breast cancer screening

J Natl Med Assoc