Prevalence of cancer screening: A comprehensive study on cancer screening behavior and barriers in Asian Americans

A104

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine Asian American subgroup differences in screening rates between Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese and Cambodians for routine physical exams, breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and liver cancer (Hepatitis B) by surveying Asian Americans in community based organizations and to include Asian Americans in the study who may speak little or no English, often not included in national surveys.
 
 Methods:The overall sample consisted of 2,011 participants and included Chinese, 45.9% (n = 925), Korean, 19.1% (n = 384), Vietnamese, 18.1% (n = 362), and Cambodian, 16.9% (n=340). Adult Asian Americans 18 years of age or older were eligible to participate in the study. First, the relationship between each demographic and acculturation factor and ethnicity group was examined with chi square analysis. Additionally, the percentages across the four ethnicities were reviewed to identify group differences. Second, the relationship between each cancer screening variable and ethnicity group was examined with chi square analysis. The prevalence of cancer screening associated with each ethnicity was examined in order to identify high-risk ethnicities. For each chi square test, significance was set at p<.05.
 
 Results: The screening rates for never screened were high for all Asian groups and cancer screenings and there were racial/ethnic subgroup differences in rates. Cambodian mammogram never screening rate was 78.5%, more than double that of any other ethnic group, and Chinese the lowest proportion 20.1%. Cambodians had the lowest rate (11.4%) of compliance among those who reported being screened within 12 months. For PAP screening, 75.6% of Cambodians and 28.0% of Chinese reported never screened. For Hepatitis B screening, the overall never screening rate cross the four ethnicities was 71.4%; 89.3% for Cambodian, 79.7% for Vietnamese, 67.8% for Korean, and 62.1% for Chinese, respectively. Never screening for prostate cancer screening included Cambodian men (97.0%), Vietnamese (88.0%), Koreans (78.9%), and Chinese (56.7%). Never screening for Colorectal included Cambodians (94.9%) and Chinese (65.3%). Koreans had the highest never screened proportion (34.7%) of routine health check out of the four ethnicities.
 
 Conclusions: To meet cancer screening guidelines, differences between Asian American subgroups should be considered to enhance screening rates.