Cancer Fatalism Among Latina Women in Central Ohio

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Latina women. Although incidence rates are lower among Latina women when compared to white and African-American women, Latina women are 20 percent more likely to die from the disease. “Proyecto Cáncer del Seno en Latinas” (The Latina Breast Cancer Project) was created in 2007 to understand knowledge, beliefs and behaviors surrounding breast cancer and screening among Latina women in central Ohio.

One hundred sixty-eight surveys were collected between September 2007-April 2008 among Latina women at breast health education programs conducted at community events and homes. The mean age was 34 years (SD=10.83). The five-page survey consisted of the 13-item knowledge scale from Champion's Health Belief Model Scale (CHBMS) (1995) and the 15-item Spanish cancer fatalism inventory (SPFI) developed by Barbara Powe (1994) and adapted by Gloria Lopez-Mckee (2007). Both instruments were used with permission by the authors for this study.

The 15 questions that comprised the SPFI were summed to reflect a total fatalism score with a range of 0-15, with a score of 15 indicating the highest level of cancer fatalism. The Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.73, which is slightly lower than the estimate of the SPFI calculated by Lopez-McKee, McNeill, Eriksen & Ortiz (2007) of .81. One hundred twenty-five Latina women responded to all items (M=4.54; SD=2.867)

Strengths of correlations were tested using Spearman's rho (two-tailed) for the summed knowledge scores, the summed fatalism scores, and demographic variables. There was a weak inverse correlation between pre-test total knowledge scores and SPFI (Spearman's rho = -0.280, p = 0.002). Latina women with higher knowledge scores were less likely to be fatalistic.