Heterogeneity in breast cancer knowledge, attitude and screening practices among Hispanic women with and without a family history of breast cancer

Background: Hispanics women are less likely to undergo cancer screening procedures and more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage than their non-Hispanic counterparts.

Objective: This study examines the knowledge, attitude and screening practices among Hispanic women with (FH+) and without (FH-) a family history of breast cancer.

Methods: Cross sectional study was designed and a structured questionnaire was used to collect 141 study subjects' sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and screening practices in three US-Mexico border counties.

Results: Familial history of breast cancer was found in 32.6% (n=46) of the study subjects. FH+ women were more likely to have ever performed screening practices than FH- study subjects. Contrary to this, we found of those women having ever undergone screening procedures, a larger proportion of FH- participants were in compliance with the recommended mammography (88.9%), clinical breast examinations (CBEs) (91.5%), and breast self examinations (BSEs)(88.2%) guidelines than FH+ participants. FH+ women were significantly more knowledgeable (mean score=0.51) than FH- about breast cancer but higher proportion (92.1%) of FH- women believed women should undergo mammography every 1 or 2 years.

Conclusion: FH+ women were more likely to have ever performed the preventive practices; however, they were not adhering to the recommended screening guidelines. FH+ participants, in general, have greater levels of knowledge about breast cancer and preventive practices than those of FH- participants. US Hispanic women with a familial breast cancer history constitute an at-risk group for whom interventions to promote frequent breast cancer screening could substantially reduce breast cancer mortality.