Breast cancer screening among American Samoan women.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about breast cancer screening practices or predictors of age-specific screening for Samoan women.


METHODS
Through systematic, random sampling procedures, we identified and interviewed 720 adult (> or =30 years) Samoan women residing in American Samoa, Hawaii, and Los Angeles. Multivariate logistic regressions were performed to determine independent predictors for recent age-specific screening.


RESULTS
Only 55.6% of women (> or =30 years) had ever had a CBE and 32.9% of women (> or =40 years) had ever had a mammogram. Furthermore, only 24.4 and 22.4% of Samoan women (> or =40 years) residing in Hawaii and Los Angeles, respectively, had an age-specific mammogram within the prior year. Independent predictors of age-specific CBE screening included age, education, health insurance, ambulatory visit, and being a resident of Hawaii or Los Angeles; those for mammography included ambulatory visit and awareness of screening guidelines.


CONCLUSIONS
Population-based estimates of age-specific breast cancer screening among Samoan women are lower than the national objectives and those reported for other minorities. Targeted efforts that address doctor-patient communication on preventive behavior, improved access to health care services (especially in American Samoa), and focused educational awareness programs are needed to improve the dismal screening rates observed in this indigenous population.
Mishra
S I
SI
Center for Health Policy and Research, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Irvine, California 92697-5800, USA. simishra@uci.edu
Luce
P H
PH
Hubbell
F A
FA
D000328:Adult; D018948:American Samoa / Q000453:epidemiology; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006254:Hawaii / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018947:Samoa / Q000208:ethnology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires