Racial and ethnic disparities in cancer screening: the importance of foreign birth as a barrier to care.
BACKGROUND
Racial/ethnic groups comprised largely of foreign-born individuals have lower rates of cancer screening than white Americans. Little is known about whether these disparities are related primarily to their race/ethnicity or birthplace.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether foreign birthplace explains some racial/ethnic disparities in cancer screening.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study using 1998 data from the National Health Interview Survey.


METHODS
Completion of cervical, breast, or colorectal cancer screening.


RESULTS
Of respondents, 15% were foreign born. In analyses adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and illness burden, black respondents were as or more likely to report cancer screening than white respondents; however, Hispanic and Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) respondents were significantly less likely to report screening for most cancers. When race/ethnicity and birthplace were considered together, U.S.-born Hispanic and AAPI respondents were as likely to report cancer screening as U.S.-born whites; however, foreign-born white (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41 to 0.82), Hispanic (AOR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.79), and AAPI respondents (AOR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.39) were less likely than U.S.-born whites to report Pap smears. Foreign-born Hispanic and AAPI respondents were also less likely to report fecal occult blood testing (FOBT); AORs, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.98; and 0.61; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.96, respectively); and sigmoidoscopy (AORs, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.51 to 0.97; and 0.63; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.99, respectively). Furthermore, foreign-born AAPI respondents were less likely to report mammography (AOR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.86). Adjusting for access to care partially attenuated disparities among foreign-born respondents.


CONCLUSIONS
Foreign birthplace may explain some disparities previously attributed to race or ethnicity, and is an important barrier to cancer screening, even after adjustment for other factors. Increasing access to health care may improve disparities among foreign-born persons to some degree, but further study is needed to understand other barriers to screening among the foreign-born.
Goel
Mita Sanghavi
MS
Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA. mgoel@caregroup.harvard.edu
Wee
Christina C
CC
McCarthy
Ellen P
EP
Davis
Roger B
RB
Ngo-Metzger
Quyen
Q
Phillips
Russell S
RS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology