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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.143974v1 99/S2/S467    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Kagawa-Singer, M. Articles by Foo, M. A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kagawa-Singer, M. Articles by Foo, M. A. Related Collections Health Education Asians Screening Cancer Women's Health

Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, PhD, RN, Sora Park Tanjasiri, DrPH, Annalyn Valdez, MPH, Hongjian Yu, PhD and Mary Anne Foo, MPH

Marjorie Kagawa-Singer and Annalyn Valdez are with the Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Sora Park Tanjasiri is with the Department of Health Sciences, California State University, Fullerton. Hongjian Yu is with the Center for Health Policy Research, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Mary Anne Foo is with the Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance, Garden Grove, CA.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 Charles Young Dr South, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772 (e-mail: mkagawa{at}ucla.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Objectives. We used a community-based research approach to test a culturally based breast cancer screening program among low-income Hmong women in central and southern California.

Methods. We designed a culturally informed educational program with measures at baseline and 1-year follow-up in 2 intervention cities and 1 comparison city. Measures included changes in breast cancer screening, knowledge, and attitudes.

Results. Compared with women in the comparison community, women in the intervention community significantly improved their attitudes toward, and increased their knowledge and receipt of, breast cancer screenings. Odds of women in the intervention group having had a mammogram, having had a clinical breast examination, and having performed breast self-examination was 6.75, 12.16, and 20.06, respectively, compared with women in the comparison group.

Conclusions. Culturally informed education materials and intervention design were effective methods in conveying the importance of maintaining and monitoring proper breast health. The strength of community collaboration in survey development and intervention design highlighted the challenges of early detection and screening programs among newer immigrants, who face significant language and cultural barriers to care, and identified promising practices to overcome these health literacy challenges.