An analysis of printed breast cancer information for African American women.
BACKGROUND
The 1995-1998 Delta Project was designed to increase breast cancer screening among disadvantaged African American women with limited literacy skills by educating their health care professionals about breast health. The research team intended to provide onsite training and appropriate educational materials; however, they found no suitable materials. This article presents the results of an assessment of available materials and defines the need for suitable materials.


METHODS
Nineteen organizations that develop cancer-related publications submitted materials intended for African American audiences. Sixty-one documents were examined for readability and cultural sensitivity. The Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Flesch-Kincaid (F-K), and Cultural Sensitivity Assessment Tools (CSAT) were used in testing.


RESULTS
The mean FRE score of 65 yielded a F-K mean grade level of 7.5 (desired level: 3.5). Using CSAT, 16 documents (26%) were eliminated because they had no visuals. Twenty-two publications (37%) were culturally sensitive for all audiences and 19 (31%) were for white audiences. Four (6%) pieces specifically addressed African American women.


CONCLUSIONS
Printed educational materials on breast cancer do not adequately provide information to undereducated, economically disadvantaged African American women.
Mohrmann
C C
CC
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Nursing, Little Rock 72205-3078, USA.
Coleman
E A
EA
Coon
S K
SK
Lord
J E
JE
Heard
J K
JK
Cantrell
M J
MJ
Burks
E C
EC
D001741:Black or African American; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000458:organization & administration; D010174:Pamphlets; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011932:Reading; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013664:Teaching Materials / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States