Cervical cancer screening among Latinas recently immigrated to the United States.
BACKGROUND
Little is known about the cancer screening practices of women whose behavior may place them at a high risk for cervical cancer. We explored factors that influence repeated Pap smear screening among recently immigrated Latinas working in bars also called cantinas.


METHODS
Face-to-face interview were administered to 360 women working in 60 cantinas. Participants provided information about their cancer screening practices including the number of Pap smears completed in the 5 years before the interview. A theory-based model proposing that demographic characteristics, cancer screening barriers and facilitators, and psychosocial factors influence repeated Pap smear screening was tested with a hierarchical linear regression.


RESULTS
Facilitators of cancer screening (recent visit to a physician and receiving a Pap smear in a clinic) and psychosocial variables (Pap smear beliefs, cancer screening intentions and lack of encouragement) were significantly associated with the total number reported Pap smears (adjusted R2 = 0.31, P < 0.0001). Cervical cancer risk behaviors were not significantly associated with repeated screening.


CONCLUSIONS
While risk behaviors did not act as barriers, access to health care measures facilitated repeated Pap smear screening. Psychosocial factors hypothesized to function as antecedents of Pap smear screening appear instead to follow from repeated experience with the examination.
Fernández-Esquer
Maria Eugenia
ME
Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, Houston TX 77030, USA. maru@sph.uth.tmc.edu
Cardenas-Turanzas
Marylou
M
D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016014:Linear Models; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*