title: Language use and the receipt of cancer screening recommendations by immigrant Chinese American women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer screening rates are low among Chinese American women, a mostly immigrant minority population. This is possibly because they do not receive cancer screening recommendations from their physicians. The objective of this study was to determine if the rate at which physicians recommend cancer screening to older Chinese American women differs according to the language used during visits.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data for the cross-sectional study were collected from a telephone survey of older Chinese American women residing in the Washington, DC, area. A total of 507 asymptomatic Chinese American women aged > or =50 who had a regular physician participated in this study. The main outcome was women's self-reported perception of having received a recommendation from their physician for mammography, Pap tests, or colorectal cancer screening in the past 2 years. The main independent variable was the language used during visits (English vs. Chinese). Patient age, educational level, employment status, cultural views, physician specialty, physician gender, and length of relationship with the physician were included in the multiple logistic regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chinese women who communicated with their physicians in English were 1.71 (95% CI 1.00-2.96) and 1.73 (95% CI 1.00-3.00) times more likely to report having received mammography and colorectal cancer screening recommendations, respectively (p < 0.05). Physicians in family medicine or general practice were 2.11 (95% CI 1.31-3.40) and 1.70 (95% CI 1.06-2.48) times more likely to recommend cancer screening than those in other specialties.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chinese American women who conversed with their physicians in Chinese were less likely to perceive receiving cancer screening recommendations. Future research is needed to identify physician-specific knowledge, attitude, and cultural barriers to recommending cancer screening.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Control Program, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. liangw1@georgetown.edu
authors.forename: Wenchi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Judy H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Mei-Yuh
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jeanne S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Mandelblatt
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology*; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000523:psychology; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004219:District of Columbia; D005243:Feces; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008327:Mammography / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010465:Perception; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000523:psychology