Breast cancer knowledge and beliefs in subpopulations of African American and Caribbean women

Abstract

Objective: To examine breast cancer belief and knowledge deficits among previously unstudied African and Caribbean subpopulations and to consider the particular knowledge and belief components that are most lacking in each group.

Methods: 1,364 African American, US-born white, English-speaking Caribbean, Haitian, Dominican, and Eastern European women were recruiting via stratified-cluster sampling. Participants provided demographics and measures of beliefs and knowledge.

Results: There were between-group differences in cancer knowledge and beliefs and within-group variation in terms of which particular knowledge and belief items varied.

Conclusions: Studying how cognitive factors relate to screening in well-defined minority groups will capacitate interventions suited to the knowledge and belief deficits that characterize populations of diverse women.