Understanding barriers to cervical cancer screening among Hispanic women.

OBJECTIVE

We investigated issues affecting Papanicolaou smear screening access, health services utilization, acculturation, social networking, and media venues most conducive to acquiring health information among Hispanics.

STUDY DESIGN

Self-identified Hispanics were surveyed. Participants were stratified based on age, time living in the United States, and Papanicolaou screening frequency.

RESULTS

Of 318 participants, Hispanics aged 30 years or older and living in the United States less than 5 years prefer speaking Spanish. Women with 5 or more lifetime Papanicolaou smears were 1.610 times more likely to have lived in the United States 5 or more years, 1.706 times more likely to speak a second language, and 1.712 times less likely to need a translator during their health care encounter.

CONCLUSION

Age and years living in the United States may be independent risk factors for participation in Papanicolaou screening programs. Social difficulties inherent to acculturation inform health behavior and translate to health disparity among Hispanics. Our results may help design federally funded and community-level programs.