Abstract
CONTEXT: Women from racial and ethnic minorities in the United States have higher rates of cervical cancer and present with later stage disease compared to whites. Delays in care for abnormal Papanicolaou (Pap) smears can lead to missed cases of cervical cancer or late-stage presentation and may be one explanation for these differences.
OBJECTIVE: To determine if race and ethnicity, health beliefs, and cancer knowledge are associated with delays in care for abnormal Pap smears.
DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, AND SETTING: We conducted a mailed survey with telephone follow-up of all women with an abnormal Pap smear who received care at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center between October 1998 and October 1999 (n=1,049).
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A delay in care was defined as not attending the first scheduled clinic visit to follow up on an abnormal Pap smear, or requiring multiple contact attempts, including a certified letter, to schedule a follow-up visit. Our response rate was 70% (n=733) and the sample was 51% Latina. Spanish-speaking Latinas and women of Asian descent were more likely to endorse fatalistic beliefs and misconceptions about cancer. Thirteen percent of the sample delayed follow-up on their abnormal Pap smear. Women who delayed care were more fatalistic and endorsed more misconceptions about cervical cancer. Delays in care were not independently associated with race and ethnicity.
CONCLUSIONS: Health beliefs and cancer knowledge differed by race and ethnicity among women in a large managed care organization. Fatalistic health beliefs and misconceptions about cancer, but not race and ethnicity, were independently associated with delays in care.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Koss LG. The Papanicolaou test for cervical cancer detection. A triumph and tragedy. JAMA. 1989;261:737–43.
Miller BA, Kolonel LN, Bernstein L, et al., eds. Racial/ethnic Patterns of Cancer in the United States 1988–1992. Bethesda, Md: National Cancer Institute; 1996. NIH Pub. No. 96-4104.
del Carmen MG, Montz FJ, Bristow RE, Bovicelli A, Cornelison T, Trimble E. Ethnic differences in patterns of care of stage 1A1 and stage 1A2 cervical cancer: a SEER database study. Gynecol Oncol. 1999;75:113–7.
Mitchell JB, McCormack LA. Time trends in late-stage diagnosis of cervical cancer. Differences by race/ethnicity and income. Med Care. 1997;35:1220–4.
Carmichael JA, Jeffrey JF, Steele HD, Ohlke ID. The cytologic history of 245 patients developing invasive cervical carcinoma. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1984;148:685–90.
Janerich DT, Hadjimichael O, Schwartz PE, Lowell DM, Meigs JW, Merino MJ. The screening histories of women with invasive cervical cancer, Connecticut. Am J Public Health. 1995;85:791–4.
Carey P, Gjerdingen DK. Follow-up of abnormal Papanicolaou smears among women of different races. J Fam Pract. 1993;37:583–7.
Fox P, Arnsberger P, Zhang X. An examination of differential follow-up rates in cervical cancer screening. J Community Health. 1997;22:199–209.
Marcus AC, Crane LA, Kaplan CP, et al. Improving adherence to screening follow-up among women with abnormal Pap smears: results from a large clinic-based trial of three intervention strategies. Med Care. 1992;30:216–29.
Marcus AC, Kaplan CP, Crane LA, et al. Reducing loss-to-follow-up among women with abnormal Pap smears. Results from a randomized trial testing an intensive follow-up protocol and economic incentives. Med Care. 1998;36:397–410.
Michielutte R, Diseker RA, Young LD, May JW. Noncompliance in screening follow-up among family planning clinic patients with cervical dysplasia. Prev Med. 1985;14:248–58.
Laedtke TW, Dignan M. Compliance with therapy for cervical dysplasia among women of low socioeconomic status. South Med J. 1992;85:5–8.
Lerman C, Hanjani P, Caputo C, et al. Telephone counseling improved adherence to colposcopy among lower-hincome minority women. J Clin Oncol. 1992;10:330–3.
Lacey L, Whitfield J, DeWhite W, et al. Referral adherence in an inner city breast and cervical cancer screening program. Cancer. 1993;72:950–5.
Melnikow J, Chan BKS, Stewart GK. Do follow-up recommendations for abnormal Papanicolaou smears influence patient adherence. Arch Fam Med. 1999;8:510–4.
Schwarz PJ, Fasal E, Simmons ME. 12-County Program: screening of 34,318 women for cervical cancer in California, 1975–78. Public Health Rep. 1981;96:547–54.
Crane LA. Social support and adherence behavior among women with abnormal Pap smears. J Cancer Educ. 1996;11:164–73.
Stewart DE, Buchegger PM, Lickrish GM, Sierra S. The effect of educational brochures on follow-up compliance in women with abnormal Pap smears. Obstet Gynecol. 1994;83:583–5.
McKee D, Lurio J, Morantz P, Burton MA, Mulvihill M. Barriers to follow-up of abnormal Papanicolaou smears in an urban community health center. Arch Fam Med. 1999;8:129–34.
Massad LS, Meyer PM. Predicting compliance with follow-up recommendations after colposcopy among indigent urban women. Obstet Gynecol. 1999;94:371–6.
Lane DS. Compliance with referrals from a cancer screening project. J Fam Pract. 1983;17:811–7.
Paskett ED, Carter WB, Chu J, Whilte E. Compliance behavior in women with abnormal Pap smears. Med Care. 1990;28:643–56.
Talavera GA, Elder JP, Velasquez RJ. Latino health beliefs and locus of control: implications for primary care and public health practitioners. Am J Prev Med. 1997;13:408–10.
Chavez LR, Hubbell FA, McMullin JM, Martinez RG, Mishra SI. Structure and meaning in models of breast and cervical cancer risk factors: a comparison of perceptions among Latinas, Anglo women, and physicians. Med Anthropol Q. 1995;9:40–74.
Pérez-Stable EJ, Sabogal F, Otero-Sabogal R, Hiatt RA, McPhee SJ. Misconceptions about cancer among Latinos and Anglos. JAMA. 1992;268:3219–23.
Tortolero-Luna G, Glober GA, Villarreal R, Palos G, Linares A. Screening practices and knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about cancer among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women 35 years old or older in Nueces County, Texas. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 1995;18:49–56.
Suarez L, Roche RA, Knowledge, behavior, and fears concerning breast and cervical cancer among older low-income Mexican-American women. Am J Prev Med. 1997;13:137–41.
Morgan C, Park E, Cortes DE. Beliefs, knowledge, and behavior about cancer among urban Hispanic women. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 1995;18:57–63.
Chavez LR, Hubbell FA, Mishra SI, Valdez RB. The influence of fatalism on self-reported use of Papanicolaou smears. Am J Prev Med. 1997;13:418–24.
Hubbell FA, Chavez LR, Mishra SI, Valdez RB. Beliefs about sexual behavior and other predictors of Papanicolaou smear screening among Latinas and Anglo women. Arch Intern Med. 1996;156:2353–8.
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Questionnaire downloaded from www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/brfss on 4/1/1999.
The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Cancer Risk Factor Supplement. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services; 1987.
Marin G, Sabogal F, Marin BV, Otero-Sabogal R, Pérez-Stable EJ. Development of a short acculturation scale for Hispanics. Hisp J Behav Sci. 1987;9:183–203.
Hays RD, Hayashi T. Beyond internal consistency reliability: rationale and user’s guide for Multitrait Analysis Program on the microcomputer. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput. 1990;22:167–75.
Cronbach LJ. Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika. 1951;16:297–334.
Meyerowitz BE, Richardson J, Hudson S, Leedham B. Ethnicity and cancer outcomes: behavioral and psychosocial considerations. Psychol Bull. 1998;123:47–70.
Pham CT, McPhee SJ. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of breast and cervical cancer screening among Vietnamese women. J Cancer Educ. 1992;7:305–10.
Lee MC, Knowledge, barriers, and motivators related to cervical cancer screening among Korean-American women. A focus group approach. Cancer Nurs. 2000;23:168–75.
Tang TS, Solomon LJ, Yeh CJ, Worden JK. The role of cultural variables in breast cancer self-examination and cervical cancer screening behavior in young Asian women living in the United States. J Behav Med. 1999;22:419–36.
Kagawa-Singer M, Pourat N. Asian American and Pacific Islander breast and cervical carcinoma screening rates and Healthy People 2000 objectives. Cancer. 2000;89:696–705.
Jepson C, Kessler LG, Portnoy B, Gibbs T. Black-white differences in cancer prevention knowledge and behavior. Am J Public Health. 1991;81:501–4.
Loehrer PJ, Greger HA, Weinberger M, et al. Knowledge and beliefs about cancer in a socioeconomically disadvantaged population. Cancer. 1991;68:1665–71.
Michielutte R, Diseker RA. Racial differences in knowledge of cancer: a pilot study. Soc Sci Med. 1982;16:245–52.
Lannin DR, Mathews HF, Mitchell J, Swanson MS, Swanson FH, Edwards MS. Influence of socioeconomic and cultural factors on racial differences in late-stage presentation of breast cancer. JAMA. 1998;279:1801–7.
Paskett ED, Rimer BA. Psychological effects of abnormal Pap tests and mammograms. A review. J Womens Health. 1995;4:73–82.
Kavanagh AM, Broom DH. Women’s understanding of abnormal cervical test results: a qualitative interview study. BMJ. 1997;314:1388–91.
Tomaino-Brunner C, Freda MC, Runowicz CD. “I hope I don’t have cancer”: colposcopy and minority women. Oncol Nurs Forum. 1996;23:39–44.
Sung H, Kearney KA, Miller M, Kinney W, Sawaya GF, Hiatt RA. Papanicolaou smear history and diagnosis of invasive cervical carcinoma among members of a large prepaid health plan. Cancer. 2000;88:2283–9.
Healthy People 2010 — Conference edition. Downloaded from www.health.gov/healthypeople on 8/2/2000.
Blackman DK, Bennett EM, Miller DS. Trends in self-reported use of mammograms (1989–1997), and Papanicolaou tests (1991–1997): behavioral risk factor surveillance system. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999;48:1–22.
Yabroff KR, Kerner JF, Mandelblatt JS. Effectiveness of interventions to improve follow-up after abnormal cervical cancer screening. Prev Med. 2000;31:429–39.
Marcus AC, Crane LA. A review of cervical cancer screening intervention research: implications for public health programs and future research. Prev Med. 1998;27:13–31.
Paskett ED, Phillips KC, Miller ME. Improving compliance among women with abnormal Papanicolaou smears. Obstet Gynecol. 1995;86:353–9.
Miller SM, Siejak KK, Schroeder CM, Lerman C, Hernandez E, Helm CW. Enhancing adherence following abnormal Pap smears among low-income minority women: a preventive telephone counseling strategy. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1997;89:703–8.
Paskett ED, White E, Carter WB, Chu J. Improving follow-up after an abnormal Pap smear: a randomized controlled trial. Prev Med. 1990;19:630–41.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Dr. Nelson completed this study while she was a NRSA research fellow in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at UCLA and received additional funding from the National Cancer Institute (1F32 CA 88495-01).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nelson, K., Geiger, A.M. & Mangione, C.M. Effect of health beliefs on delays in care for abnormal cervical cytology in a multiethnic population. J GEN INTERN MED 17, 709–716 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2002.11231.x
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2002.11231.x