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Perceptions of and barriers to cancer screening by the sexual and gender minority community: a glimpse into the health care disparity

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Abstract

Purpose

A disparity exists in cancer screening rates for the Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) community. We sought to understand the perceptions and baseline knowledge of cancer screening among SGM community members.

Methods

Survey administered via social media from June 2018 to October 2018. We asked 31 questions focused on cancer screening, human papillomavirus, emotional distress, and experience with the health care system. Those included were 18 years or older. Cancer screening attitudes and knowledge, as well as perceptions of the health care system were investigated.

Results

There were 422 respondents analyzed: 24.6% identified as female, 25.5% as male, 40.1% transgender, and 9.6% as other. 65.4% of the SGM community is not certain what cancer screening to do for themselves. Only 27.3% and 55.7% knew that HPV was a risk factor associated with head and neck cancer and anal cancer, respectively. Half stated their emotional distress prevents them from getting cancer screening. It was identified that process changes in making appointments, comforts during the visit, and formal training for physicians and nurses could increase cancer screening compliance for this community. The transgender population had a trend in more gaps in knowledge of appropriate cancer screening and significant excess emotional distress.

Conclusion

Gaps in cancer screening knowledge and emotional and financial distress may be responsible for the disparity of lower cancer screening rates for the SGM population and the transgender population may be most at risk. Appreciating the cancer screening concerns of the SGM population can help shape future clinical and institutional approaches to improve health care delivery.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

Code availability

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Funding

This work was supported by the NCI Cancer Center Grant P30CA056036 for supporting the Biostatistics Core.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Joseph Lombardo, Kevin Ko, Nicolas Nelson, Jerry Chen, Alisha Maity, Marissa L. Ruggiero & Nicole L. Simone

  2. Division of Biostatistics, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Ayako Shimada

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Christopher Wright

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Scott Richard

  5. Department of Emergency Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Dimitrios Papanagnou

  6. Department of Medical Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Edith Mitchell & Amy Leader

  7. Department of Radiation Oncology, Bodine Center for Cancer Treatment, Thomas Jefferson University, 111 S. 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Nicole L. Simone

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  1. Joseph Lombardo
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  2. Kevin Ko
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All authors significantly contributed to the study and manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Nicole L. Simone.

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IRB: The Institutional Review Board approved this study prior to data collection.

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Lombardo, J., Ko, K., Shimada, A. et al. Perceptions of and barriers to cancer screening by the sexual and gender minority community: a glimpse into the health care disparity. Cancer Causes Control 33, 559–582 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-021-01549-4

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