Cervical cancer prevention: Asian-American women's knowledge and participation in screening practices.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to compare cervical cancer knowledge and prevention strategy participation among Chinese-American women compared with Southeast-Asian-American women.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional survey of Chinese and Southeast Asian women in Rhode Island. Anonymous surveys were administered following informed consent. The survey included demographics and questions related to health care practices, cervical cancer, and the human papilloma virus (HPV). Categorical variables were compared by Fisher's exact test. Mean scores of correct answers on the knowledge questions were compared by Student's t-test and analysis of variance.

RESULTS

Ninety-six Chinese women and 132 Southeast Asian women were included in the analysis. Sixty-seven percent of Chinese women had at least a college education compared with 37% of Southeast Asian women (p < .0001). Nineteen percent of Chinese women reported annual household incomes of greater than $100,000 compared with 3% of Southeast Asian women (p = .0003). Twenty percent of Southeast Asian women did not have health insurance compared with 10% of Chinese women (p = .06). Among both groups, 25% of participants either never had a pap test or did not know if they ever had a pap test. There was a greater lack of knowledge about the relationship between HPV and cervical cancer among Chinese (mean 2.9 out of 8 questions) compared with Southeast Asian (mean 3.6 out of 8 questions; p = .02).

CONCLUSIONS

Regardless of ethnic subgroup, education, or income, all participants had a poor knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV. This study supports the need for improvement in cervical cancer prevention education among all Asian women.