title: Health status among black African-born women in Kansas City: a preliminary assessment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health information and statistics for Black foreign-born women in the United States are under-reported or not available. Black foreign-born women typically are classified under the general category of African American, ignoring the heterogeneity that exists in the United States Black population. It is important to identify health issues and behaviors of African-born women to effectively address health disparities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Black African-born women (N = 29), 20 years or older completed a survey about general and women's health, health history, acculturation, lifestyle, social and health challenges, beliefs about breast cancer. Data were analyzed using SPSS 14.0 software. Categorical variables were summarized with frequencies and percentages and continuous variables were summarized with means and standard variation. A Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree) was used to assess beliefs about breast cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most (71.4%) participants had a high school education or more, 70% were employed, and 50% had health insurance. Two-thirds received health care from primary care doctors, 20.7% from health departments, and 39.3% got annual checkups. Lack of jobs, healthcare cost, language barrier, discrimination, and child care were the top social issues faced by participants. High blood pressure, obesity, oral health, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes were indicated as the most common health problems. The percent of participants (60%) that had not had a mammogram within the previous 2 years was more than the state average (24%) for women 40 years and older reported by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The percent of participants (40%) that had a mammogram within the previous 2 years was lower than the national average (73.2%) for African American women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Study provides a snapshot of social concerns and health issues in an African population residing in Midwestern United States. Understanding the socio-cultural characteristics of this population is necessary to address health disparities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Cancer Center, Center for American Indian Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, MS 1056, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA. commucare.kc@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Florence M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ndikum-Moffor
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Cancer Center, Center for American Indian Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, MS 1056, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA. bfaseru@kumc.edu.|Department of Family Medicine, Center for American Indian Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA. bfaseru@kumc.edu.
authors.forename: Babalola
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Faseru
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Center for American Indian Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA. mfilippi@kumc.edu.
authors.forename: Melissa K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Filippi
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Center for American Indian Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA. hwei@kumc.edu.
authors.forename: Hou
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Cancer Center, Center for American Indian Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, MS 1056, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA. kengelma@kumc.edu.
authors.forename: Kimberly K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Engelman
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D001741:Black or African American; D044383:Black People; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006304:Health Status; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007615:Kansas / Q000453:epidemiology; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires