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Cervical Cancer: Barriers to Screening in the Somali Community in Minnesota

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Abstract

This study examined barriers to and facilitators of cervical cancer screening among Somali immigrant women in Minnesota. We adopted the socioecological framework to illustrate screening barriers at multiple levels. We conducted 23 semi-structured key informant interviews and used a thematic exploratory approach to analyze the data. Barriers were classified into individual, community or health systems levels. Obstacles included lack of knowledge, religious beliefs, fatalism, fear, embarrassment, and lack of trust in the interpreters. Participants described a need for training of healthcare providers on issues surrounding Somali women’s cultural practices and sexual health. Identifying individual, community, or health system barriers and addressing them concurrently may increase use of cancer screening services among Somali women. Future interventions need to address multilevel barriers with multilevel approaches to improve utilization of cervical cancer screening services in underserved immigrant populations in the United States.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute: Minnesota Community Networks Center for Eliminating Cancer Disparities (U54CA153603) and Cancer-related Health Disparities Education and Career Development Program (1R25CA163184). Special thanks to the Somali immigrant women for volunteering to participate in this study. We also thank the staff members of the New Americans Community Services team who aided in the recruitment and moderating the interviews.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors have conflicts of interest to declare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Rahel G. Ghebre

  2. New American Community Services, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Sirad Osman

  3. School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Amira Adawe

  4. University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Hai T. Nguyen

  5. Program in Health Disparities Research, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Barrett Sewali, Kolawole S. Okuyemi & Anne Joseph

  6. Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, 717 Delaware St. SE. Ste. 166, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA

    Barrett Sewali & Kolawole S. Okuyemi

  7. Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Anne Joseph

Authors
  1. Rahel G. Ghebre
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  2. Barrett Sewali
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  3. Sirad Osman
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  4. Amira Adawe
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  5. Hai T. Nguyen
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  6. Kolawole S. Okuyemi
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  7. Anne Joseph
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barrett Sewali.

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Ghebre, R.G., Sewali, B., Osman, S. et al. Cervical Cancer: Barriers to Screening in the Somali Community in Minnesota. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 722–728 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0080-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0080-1

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