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Consistency in Attitudes Across Cancer Screenings in Medically Underserved Minority Populations

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Abstract

While a wide range of behavioral and psychosocial literature explores attitudes and beliefs towards cancer screenings, fewer studies examine attitudes across cancer screening types. We draw on quantitative and qualitative findings from a 4-year prospective study based at a community health center serving diverse, low-income patients. Methods included self-report surveys (n = 297), medical chart abstraction, and several qualitative methods with a subsample of participants. Participants included white, African–American, Vietnamese, and Latino patients who were diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, or both. Patients’ attitudes (both positive and negative) towards cancer screening types were remarkably consistent across cancer screening types. These effects were stronger among men than women. Never having had a cancer screening was generally associated with more unfavorable attitudes towards all screenings. Qualitative interviews indicate the importance of information circulated through social networks in shaping attitudes towards cancer screenings. Condensed abstract: In a multi-method study of attitudes towards cancer screening among medically underserved patients in a primary care setting, we found that attitudes (both positive and negative) were remarkably consistent across cancer screening types.

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Notes

  1. A pseudonym, as are all names of individuals presented here.

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Acknowledgments

The research described in this paper was supported by the National Cancer Institute grant number R01 CA128455, Susan J. Shaw, Principal Investigator. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health. There are no financial disclosures from any author.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210030, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0030, USA

    Susan J. Shaw & Julie Armin

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, 06117, USA

    James Vivian

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Box G-BH, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

    Kathryn M. Orzech

  4. Chronobiology and Sleep Research Laboratory, E. P. Bradley Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    Kathryn M. Orzech

  5. Community Programs and Research, Caring Health Center, 1145 Main Street, Springfield, MA, 01103, USA

    Cristina Huebner Torres

Authors
  1. Susan J. Shaw
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  2. James Vivian
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  3. Kathryn M. Orzech
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  4. Cristina Huebner Torres
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  5. Julie Armin
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Correspondence to Susan J. Shaw.

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Shaw, S.J., Vivian, J., Orzech, K.M. et al. Consistency in Attitudes Across Cancer Screenings in Medically Underserved Minority Populations. J Canc Educ 27, 165–171 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-011-0285-0

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