title: Breast Cancer Screening Knowledge and Perceived Health Beliefs among Immigrant Women in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recently, through international marriage, immigrant women have rapidly increased throughout Korea. This study was performed to identify health beliefs and practices related to breast cancer screening in immigrant women in Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was carried out between March and July 2012, and study population included immigrant females from six other Asian countries (Cambodia, China, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, and the Philippines). We surveyed 197 women and categorized them into four groups according to home countries. The questionnaire consisted of 55 items, including demographic and socioeconomic factors, breast cancer-related knowledge regarding risk factors and symptoms, beliefs and attitudes towards health and breast cancer, perceived susceptibility, barriers, and benefits of screening.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Japanese participants were significantly older and had resided in Korea for more years than other country-of-origin groups (all p<0.001), and showed higher screening rates without statistical significance (p=0.392). In multivariate analysis, country of origin showed a significant correlation with knowledge (p=0.001), positive beliefs (p=0.002), and perceived benefits (p=0.025) of breast cancer screening. The group with the lowest household income showed a significantly lower score of perceived benefits (p=0.022). Through analysis to identify factors affecting participation in screening mammography, we found that education level (p=0.009), occupation status (p=0.006), and Korean language fluency (p=0.002) were independent predictors for screening behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study identified conditions related to breast cancer screening knowledge, perception, and behavior of immigrant women in Korea. The results reflect the need for increased social aids to remove barriers to medical services and more educational programs to facilitate higher rates of screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jeju National University Hospital, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jiyoung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Se Kyung
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hanyang University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeonghui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hanyang University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Korea University Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Pil
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Min Kook
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sangmin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seok Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Eon
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kil
keywords: Breast neoplasms; Emigrants and immigrants; Health behavior; Health knowledge; Mass screening