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Cultural Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening and Medical Mistrust Among Arab American Women

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Abstract

Breast cancer is a common cancer among women in the US and cultural barriers and medical mistrust have been associated with breast cancer screening (BCS) rates among minority populations. A heterogeneous sample of Arab women (N = 196) were recruited from across the Detroit metropolitan area and administered a questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses revealed an association between Arab Cultural Specific Barriers (ACSB) to BCS and Group-Based Medical Mistrust Scale. The environmental ACSB to BCS was associated with the medical mistrust—suspicion of HC providers (β = 0.363, p = 0.01), lack of HC provider support (β = 0.396, p = 0.001), and Arab inequities (β = 0.250, p = 0.05). Findings suggest that ACSB to BCS are predictive of medical mistrust for Arab American women. This study illuminates the need to emphasize strategies that will target the medical care system and the cultural barriers to BCS that Arab American women face in the health care system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Wayne State University, 5447 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI, USA

    Kim Jaffee

  2. School of Social Work, Social Welfare and Health Sciences, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel

    Miri Cohen & Faisal Azaiza

  3. Global Health, Management & Solutions, Novi, MI, USA

    Adnan Hammad

  4. Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), Dearborn, MI, USA

    Hiam Hamade

  5. Department of Oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Hayley Thompson

Authors
  1. Kim Jaffee
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  2. Miri Cohen
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  3. Faisal Azaiza
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  4. Adnan Hammad
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  5. Hiam Hamade
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  6. Hayley Thompson
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Correspondence to Kim Jaffee.

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Jaffee, K., Cohen, M., Azaiza, F. et al. Cultural Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening and Medical Mistrust Among Arab American Women. J Immigrant Minority Health 23, 95–102 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01019-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01019-0

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