Self-reported willingness to have cancer screening and the effects of sociodemographic factors.
BACKGROUND
The relative effects of race/ethnicity and other sociodemographic factors, compared to those of attitudes and beliefs on willingness to have cancer screening, are not well understood.


METHODS
We conducted telephone interviews with 1148 adults (22% Hispanic, 31% African American, and 46% white) [corrected] from 3 cities in mainland United States and Puerto Rico. Respondents reported their sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes about barriers and facilitators of cancer screening, and willingness to have cancer screening under 4 scenarios: when done in the community vs one's doctor's office, and whether or not one had symptoms.


RESULTS
Racial/ethnic minority status, age, and lower income were frequently associated with increased willingness to have cancer screening, even after including attitudes and beliefs about screening. Having screening nearby was important for community screening, and anticipation of embarrassment from screening for when there were no cancer symptoms. Associations varied across 4 screening scenarios, with the fewest predictors for screening by one's doctor when there were symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Sociodemographic characteristics not only were related to willingness to have cancer screenings in almost all cases, but were generally much stronger factors than attitudinal barriers and facilitators. Cancer screening campaigns should affect attitudinal change where possible, but should also recognize that targeting screening to specific population groups may be necessary.
Kressin
Nancy R
NR
Section of General Internal Medicine, Health Core Disparities Research Program, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. nkressin@bu.edu
Manze
Meredith
M
Russell
Stefanie L
SL
Katz
Ralph V
RV
Claudio
Cristina
C
Green
B Lee
BL
Wang
Min Qi
MQ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000523:psychology*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011647:Puerto Rico; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States