title: Barriers for Compliance to Breast, Colorectal, and Cervical Screening Cancer Tests among Hispanic Patients.
abstract: Hispanics are less likely to undergo screening tests for colorectal cancer and cervical cancer than non-Hispanic whites. Compliance with mammography, fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), colonoscopy, and cervical smears (PAP) and barriers for compliance were studied. A descriptive study was performed with 194 ambulatory patients while they attended routine medical visits. Women are more likely than men to undergo a colonoscopy. Conversely, FOBT was most likely reported by men. Reasons for compliance with FOBT differed by gender. Men were most likely to avoid FOBT due to lack of knowledge whereas women reported that physicians do not recommend the procedure. Both men and women reported that lack of physician's recommendation was their primary reason for not undergoing a colonoscopy. Men tend to report lack of knowledge about colonoscopy procedure. A higher mammogram utilization rate was reported by women older than 40 years. PAP smears were reported by 74% of women older than 21 years. The major reasons for avoiding mammography and PAP tests were having a busy schedule, fear, and feeling uncomfortable during the procedure. In a multivariate regression analysis, occupational status was found to be a predictor for compliance with FOBT and colonoscopy.
authors.affiliation: Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, Cancer Research Unit, Internal Medicine Department, P.O. BOX 60327, Bayamon 00960-6032, Puerto Rico. christine.miranda@uccaribe.edu.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miranda-Diaz
authors.affiliation: Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, Cancer Research Unit, Internal Medicine Department, P.O. BOX 60327, Bayamon 00960-6032, Puerto Rico. ismabet@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Elba
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Betancourt
authors.affiliation: Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, Cancer Research Unit, Internal Medicine Department, P.O. BOX 60327, Bayamon 00960-6032, Puerto Rico. yelitza.ruiz@uccaribe.edu.
authors.forename: Yelitza
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Candelaria
authors.affiliation: Universidad Central del Caribe, School of Medicine, Cancer Research Unit, Internal Medicine Department, P.O. BOX 60327, Bayamon 00960-6032, Puerto Rico. robert.hunter@uccaribe.edu.
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Hunter-Mellado
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000523:psychology*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008327:Mammography / Q000523:psychology*; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test / Q000523:psychology*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology*; D011647:Puerto Rico; D012737:Sex Factors; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hispanics; barriers; cancer screening; compliance