A comprehensive study on cancer screening behaviors and barriers in Asian Americans

Background: Cancer is major cause of death amongst Asians Americans and this group has the lowest screening rates of all ethnic groups in the US. Cancer and screening rates vary by Asian American subgroups but little is understood about barriers in place.

Purpose: The purpose was to determine differences in demographic and acculturation factors, in cancer screening use for breast, cervical, prostate, liver, colorectal cancers and routine health screening among Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian Americans.

Methods: A cross-sectional design utilizing face-to-face data collection with language assistance. The sample participants included 2,011 Asian men and women, composed of Chinese (45.9%), Korean (19.1 %), Vietnamese (18.1%), and Cambodian (16.9%) Americans. Data were analyze by the chi square test to identify relationships between demographic and acculturation factors and screenings with 95% confidence intervals.

Results: Across the four ethnic groups differences were found for demographic and acculturation factors as they related to screening rates. Never-screened rates varied for each Asian subgroup but were high for all subgroups. Never-screened rates for mammography ranged from 20.1% to 78.5%; for Pap test, 28% to 75.6%; for prostate cancer, 56.7% to 97%; for colorectal cancer, 65.3% to 94.9%. Koreans had the highest never screened for routine physical exam (34.7%). Noncompliance rates were also high among those Asians who ever received screening.

Discussions: Efforts should be made to comply with screening guidelines among Asian Americans. Programs developed for Asian Americans should take into account the need to provide a range of culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions.