TY - JOUR
T1 - Uptake of cancer screenings among a multiethnic refugee population in North Texas, 2014-2018
AU - Milenkov, Amy Raines
AU - Felini, Martha
AU - Baker, Eva
AU - Acharya, Rushil
AU - Diese, Elvis Longanga
AU - Onsa, Sara
AU - Fernando, Shane
AU - Chor, Holy
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), Evidence-Based Cancer Prevention Services, PP170012 and PP130074 (ARM). https:// www.cprit.state.tx.us/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2020 Raines Milenkov et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Background Refugees are less likely than US born populations to receive cancer screenings. Building Bridges is a community health worker prevention program designed to increase refugee's cancer screening uptake. The purpose of this cross sectional analysis was to assess differences in uptake of cervical, breast, liver, and colorectal screens across six cultural groups. Methods Data was abstracted in 2018 for this analysis. Participants were categorized into six cultural groups (Myanmar, Central Africa, Bhutan, Somalia, Arabic Speaking Countries, and Other) to assess differences in sociodemographic measures and screening uptake. Uptake proportions were calculated for each cancer type (cervical, breast, liver, and colon) among eligible participants, by gender and cultural group. Differences in uptake across groups were assessed using stratified analysis and logistic regression. Prevalence odds ratios (POR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for each group to assess the association between screening completion and cultural group. Findings 874 refugees were asked about cancer screening history. The majority of participants were either 'never had been screened' or 'not up-to-date' for every cancer screening. Among age eligible, 82% had no prior pap exam within the past 3 years, 81% had no prior mammogram within the past year, 69% didn't know their Hepatitis B status and 87% never had a colon cancer screening. Overall, higher uptake of all types of cancer screenings was observed in Myanmar and Bhutanese groups, except colon cancer screening which was higher among Central African Region and Arabic Speaking participants. Conclusion Screening uptake varied by ethnic group and screening type. The program reached an under and never screened population, however, the proportion of refugees who received a cancer screening remained low compared to the US population. Diversity within refugee communities requires adaptation to specific cultural and linguistic needs to include new Americans in cancer elimination efforts.
AB - Background Refugees are less likely than US born populations to receive cancer screenings. Building Bridges is a community health worker prevention program designed to increase refugee's cancer screening uptake. The purpose of this cross sectional analysis was to assess differences in uptake of cervical, breast, liver, and colorectal screens across six cultural groups. Methods Data was abstracted in 2018 for this analysis. Participants were categorized into six cultural groups (Myanmar, Central Africa, Bhutan, Somalia, Arabic Speaking Countries, and Other) to assess differences in sociodemographic measures and screening uptake. Uptake proportions were calculated for each cancer type (cervical, breast, liver, and colon) among eligible participants, by gender and cultural group. Differences in uptake across groups were assessed using stratified analysis and logistic regression. Prevalence odds ratios (POR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for each group to assess the association between screening completion and cultural group. Findings 874 refugees were asked about cancer screening history. The majority of participants were either 'never had been screened' or 'not up-to-date' for every cancer screening. Among age eligible, 82% had no prior pap exam within the past 3 years, 81% had no prior mammogram within the past year, 69% didn't know their Hepatitis B status and 87% never had a colon cancer screening. Overall, higher uptake of all types of cancer screenings was observed in Myanmar and Bhutanese groups, except colon cancer screening which was higher among Central African Region and Arabic Speaking participants. Conclusion Screening uptake varied by ethnic group and screening type. The program reached an under and never screened population, however, the proportion of refugees who received a cancer screening remained low compared to the US population. Diversity within refugee communities requires adaptation to specific cultural and linguistic needs to include new Americans in cancer elimination efforts.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082629802&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0230675
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0230675
M3 - Article
C2 - 32226017
AN - SCOPUS:85082629802
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 15
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 3
M1 - e0230675
ER -