174314 Older African American men's prostate cancer knowledge and information needs: An exploratory assessment using a multi-level health literacy framework

Monday, October 27, 2008: 12:30 PM

Daniela B. Friedman, MSc, PhD , Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Sara J. Corwin, MPH, PhD , Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
India Rose, BS, MPH , Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Gregory Dominick, MA, PhD , Centers for Behavioral & Preventive Medicine, The Miriam Hospital & Brown Medical School, Providence, RI
  
BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PC) is the most diagnosed cancer among men, especially African American (AA) men.

OBJECTIVES: (1) To examine functional health literacy (FHL) of older AA men, and (2) to determine their knowledge and understanding of PC prevention.

METHODS: 25 AA men aged 50+ participated in a FHL assessment using a Cloze test and Shortened Test of Functional Health Literacy (S-TOFHLA). Two documents differing in readability (Grade 8 vs. 13) were used for Cloze tests. Men also participated in interviews/focus groups during which they were asked about “interactive” (cancer information seeking) and “critical” health literacy (capacity to use cancer information). Transcripts were reviewed for recurrent themes and analyzed qualitatively using NVivo7.

RESULTS: Mean S-TOFHLA was 28.28 (± 1.98), implying “adequate” comprehension. Mean Cloze was .71 (± 0.05) and .66 (± 0.04) for the Grade 8 and 13 documents respectively, showing “adequate” comprehension. FHL scores for the Grade 8 resource were lower for less educated men (S-TOFHLA:p=.011; Cloze:p=.006). Results from interviews/focus groups showed participants had misconceptions about PC risk and had never actively sought out PC resources. Many wanted information about screening and family history delivered “word-of-mouth” by women and church pastors. They would pass on PC information to family/friends even if not tailored for AAs.

CONCLUSIONS: Participants had low but “adequate” FHL regarding PC prevention. They lacked interactive and critical literacy skills, though they expressed a desire to increase PC understanding. It is important to assess functional, interactive, and critical health literacy when developing cancer education messages and programs.

Learning Objectives:
The participant/learner in this session will be able to: 1. Recognize risk misconceptions of African American men in need of prostate cancer prevention information. 2. Understand the importance of assessing individuals’ functional, interactive, and critical health literacy skills when developing cancer education messages and programs. 3. Identify strategies suggested by older African American men for successful communication of prostate cancer prevention messages.

Keywords: Health Communications, Cancer Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conceived the project idea, co-developed data collection protocols, was involved in data collection and analysis, and created this abstract with assistance from the research team (abstract co-authors).
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Gerontological Health Section Award Papers
See more of: Gerontological Health