A structural approach to examining prostate cancer risk for rural southern African American men.
Physical, cultural, and social factors influence health risk and behavior, but few have explored how the environmental context affects African American men's prostate cancer screening and treatment. This paper describes a structural analysis of data from eight focus groups of rural, southern African American men (n=66). A structural approach highlights the interrelationships between individuals, the health service system, and community factors that directly and indirectly affect screening and treatment for prostate cancer. The availability of accurate and timely health information and health services, social norms regarding health and professional help-seeking, and the sociopolitical context shaped men's screening and treatment behaviors. These proximal and distal health factors affected men's prostate cancer knowledge, perceived risk, willingness to seek care and trust in the health service system. The findings suggest that prostate cancer screening and treatment occurs in a larger structural context that has important implications for help-seeking and health promotion.
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor 48109-2029, USA. derekmg@umich.edu
Derek M
DM
Griffith
Mondi A
MA
Mason
Marisela
M
Rodela
Derrick D
DD
Matthews
Anh
A
Tran
Michael
M
Royster
Michael
M
Cotten
Eugenia
E
Eng
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012423:Rural Health