title: Do Recommendations by Healthcare Providers, Family-members, Friends, and Individual Self-Efficacy Increase Uptake of Hepatitis B Screening? Results of a Population-Based Study of Asian Americans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection disproportionately affects Asian Americans but HBV screening rates among Asian American are substantially low. This study examines the impact of multiple recommendations and self-efficacy on HBV screening uptake among Asian Americans.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data for this study were from 872 Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese recruited for a liver cancer prevention program in the Washington D.C - Baltimore metropolitan area.
  
  
  RESULTS
  410 (47%) respondents reported previous HBV screening. Only 19.8% recalled a physician recommendation. Higher level of HBV screening was reported among people who had physician recommendation, family member recommendation or friend recommendation. Perceived self-efficacy was also an important predictor to HBV screening. The effect of self-efficacy was significant in subgroup analyses among Chinese and Korean, but not for Vietnamese.
  The disproportional prevalence of HBV infection among Asian Americans is considered to be one of the most important health disparities for Asian population. Understanding the condition and screening behavior in this population is especially important. Our findings suggest that recommendation from physician and social networks should be encouraged for HBV screening among Asian Americans. Both recommendation and self-efficacy of HBV screening are important psychosocial constructs to be targeted in liver cancer prevention interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, United States.
authors.forename: Xiaoxiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Hee-Soon
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Juon
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, United States.
authors.forename: Sunmin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Asian Americans; Hepatitis B Virus; Recommendation; Screening; Self-efficacy