Promoting sexual health and reproductive justice for Asian American Pacific Islander College students: Research results from a college campus survey

Background/Significance: While Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are the fastest growing ethnic minority groups and comprise approximately 5% of the U.S. population, only 2% of sexual health research is reported for these communities, which continues to be overlooked. Objective/Purpose: The California Young Women's Collaborative (CYWC), a project of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, is a college student-led research and activism project that has had student cohorts at five different California public universities in the last five years. The purpose of CYWC is to provide leadership development and research training for college AAPI students through social activism projects in the areas of sexual health and reproductive justice. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey with AAPI, Latino, and white female students (N=618) at a four-year university was conducted in December,2009 to assess their knowledge and behaviors regarding contraception and Pap screening rates. Results: Results indicated that participants who were least likely to know about Pap tests were 18-21 years old, AAPI, uninsured, identified as non-heterosexual, and not in a committed relationship. AAPI females also had the lowest Pap screening rates (52%) compared to Latinas (70%) and whites (82%). The person having most influence on individual decisions for Pap screening was doctor (43%) and the least influential were mothers (18.8%) and friends (7.8%). AAPI females also had the lowest use of hormonal pills within the last three months. Discussion/Conclusions: This study expands the literature on sexual health research among AAPI college students and provides culturally appropriate recommendations to improve Pap screening rates.