McDonald P A, Thorne D D, Pearson J C, Adams-Campbell L L
Howard University Cancer Center, Washington, District of Columbia 20060, USA.
Ethn Dis. 1999 Winter;9(1):81-93.
The purpose of this study, theoretically based on the Health Belief Model, was to assess breast cancer perceptions, knowledge, and screening behavior of low-income, African-American women residing in public housing.
One hundred twenty (120) randomly selected women were interviewed to determine their perceived susceptibility to breast cancer, perceived severity of the disease, perceived barriers to breast cancer screening, and perceived benefits of mammography. Knowledge about breast cancer causes, risk factors, symptoms, and screening was also assessed. Contingency tables and Student's t test were used to analyze the data.
The results demonstrated that 80.7% of women aged 40 and older had a previous mammogram. Approximately 92% of women reported having a clinical breast examination, and 75.8% performed breast self-examination. Knowledge of breast cancer was poor among the women in this study. Most women did not perceive themselves or a particular racial or economic group to be more susceptible to breast cancer. Moreover, the women in the sample did not perceive breast cancer as a fatal disease. Overall, women in the sample endorsed the benefits of mammography and denied the relevance of commonly cited barriers to breast cancer screening. The constructs of the Health Belief Model were not significantly related to mammography or breast self-examination. However, perceived severity and perceived barriers were found to be significantly related to clinical breast examination.
Rates of early detection behaviors in this sample are commendable. Future research should focus on actual determinants and facilitators of regular screening behavior within a theoretical framework that incorporates cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity.
本研究理论上基于健康信念模型，旨在评估居住在公共住房中的低收入非裔美国女性对乳腺癌的认知、知识及筛查行为。
对120名随机抽取的女性进行访谈，以确定她们对乳腺癌易感性的认知、对该疾病严重性的认知、对乳腺癌筛查障碍的认知以及对乳房X光检查益处的认知。同时也评估了她们关于乳腺癌病因、风险因素、症状及筛查的知识。使用列联表和学生t检验来分析数据。
结果显示，40岁及以上的女性中有80.7%曾进行过乳房X光检查。约92%的女性报告称接受过临床乳房检查，75.8%的女性进行过乳房自我检查。本研究中的女性对乳腺癌的知识掌握情况较差。大多数女性并不认为自己或某个特定种族或经济群体更容易患乳腺癌。此外，样本中的女性并不认为乳腺癌是一种致命疾病。总体而言，样本中的女性认可乳房X光检查的益处，并否认了通常提到的乳腺癌筛查障碍的相关性。健康信念模型的各要素与乳房X光检查或乳房自我检查并无显著关联。然而，发现对严重性的认知和对障碍的认知与临床乳房检查显著相关。
该样本中的早期检测行为发生率值得称赞。未来的研究应在一个纳入文化、种族和社会经济多样性的理论框架内，关注定期筛查行为的实际决定因素和促进因素。
