Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #104361

Eunice E. Lee, DNSc and Shin-Young Lee, MSN. College of Nursing, Department of Public Health, Mental Health, and Administrative Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 South Damen Ave., M/C 802, Chicago, IL 60612, 312-996-7973, eclee@uic.edu

Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer, and the most common cause of cancer morbidity, among Korean American women. However, Asian American women, including Korean American women, have the lowest cancer screening and early detection rates of all ethnic groups. The purpose of this paper is to assess breast cancer screening rates and explore factors related to breast cancer screening among Korean immigrants in the United States. A telephone survey was conducted with 189 Korean women aged 40 and older in Cook County, Illinois. The mean age of the women was 60 years. The majority of the women were married (71%), and 26% of the women were widowed. Half of the women (51%) had had more than 12 years of schooling. The majority of the women were housewives (66%). Of this group, 78% had had a mammogram at some point, and 38.6% had had one within the previous year. Fifty-three percent had had a CBE, while 26.1% had had one within the previous year. Whereas 58.1% had examined their breasts before, 46.3% did monthly BSE. Having a regular check-up was strongly related to all the measures of cancer screening. Age, marital status, and length of time spent in the US were also related to cancer screening. Korean women's breast cancer screening rates are improving even though the rates are still lower than their counterparts in the US. Further in-depth research is suggested to understand KA women's perspectives on having access to care as well as older Korean women's screening behaviors.

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