200554 An evaluation of knowledge about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans

Tuesday, November 10, 2009: 2:45 PM

Claudia X. Aguado Loi, MPH , Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Gwendolyn Quinn, PhD , Health Outcomes & Behavior, Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL
Jessica McIntyre, BS , Health Outcomes and Behavior Program, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL
Susan Vadaparampil, PhD , Health Outcomes & Behavior, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL
Objective: Current outreach efforts and materials for Hispanic women regarding hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) are sparse and often designed without regard for differences among sub-ethnicities. The purpose of this study was to examine knowledge of HBOC among Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban women

Methods: Women, aged 18-65 with a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer, were recruited from three counties in Florida using community-based methods. All questions were interviewer administered in Spanish or English. Knowledge was measured using an 11-item instrument developed by the National Center for Human Genome Research. Analysis of variance was performed to examine knowledge differences between Hispanic sub-ethnicities.

Results: Fifty-three women participated in the study; 16 Mexicans, 20 Puerto Ricans, and 17 Cubans. The majority of women (64.2%) were born outside the U.S. The percentage of correct responses on the knowledge instrument ranged from 9.4%-73.6% (median number of correct responses = 5). Knowledge scores did not significantly differ by Hispanic sub-group (p = 0.51). Interestingly, exploratory analysis revealed lower knowledge scores in women with a personal history of cancer (p = 0.03).

Conclusion: Results illustrate low knowledge of HBOC regardless of Hispanic sub-ethnicity. While there is a need to educate Hispanic women in general about HBOC, special attention should be paid to those with a personal history of breast cancer. Larger studies are warranted to further examine differences in knowledge among Hispanic sub-ethnicity and the need for tailored materials.

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify areas of HBOC knowledge that yielded the lowest scores 2. Discuss recommendations for HBOC education for Hispanic women

Keywords: Latinas, Cancer

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was responsible for the literature review and analysis write up for this project. Furthermore, my past research activity has been in cancer health disparties with Latinos.
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.