Breast and cervical cancer screening among South Asian immigrants in the United States.

BACKGROUND

South Asian (SA) immigrants (from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) constitute the fastest growing of all Asian American immigrants to the United States, with a growth rate of 106% from 1990 to 2001. Data are lacking on health behaviors of this population subgroup, including cancer-related information.

OBJECTIVE

: The purpose of this study was to assess rates and correlates of breast and cervical cancer screening in a community sample of SAs.

METHODS

Participants were recruited from among attendees of 3 community-based agency programs. Data were collected in English, Hindi, and Gujarati from a convenience sample of 198 participants.

RESULTS

Two-thirds of the sample (n = 127, 65.5%) had ever had a mammogram, whereas only a third (n = 65, 32.8%) had ever had a Papanicolaou smear or vaginal examination. Several predisposing factors (eg, country of birth, years in the United States, acculturation, age, and acknowledged barriers to screening) were significant predictors of breast and cervical screening, whereas the only enabling factor was past screening behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Additional study is warranted on cultural aspects of cancer screening behaviors. These data are formative on facilitators and barriers to mammogram and Papanicolaou test completion among these understudied minority women.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Nurses who practice in primary care may begin to target health education based on sociodemographics of SA women and emphasize discussion of barriers to screening.