Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 May;28(3):278-285.
doi: 10.1177/1043659616628964. Epub 2016 Feb 15.

Adapting a Cancer Literacy Measure for Use Among Navajo Women

Kathleen J Yost  1 , Mark C Bauer  2 , Lydia P Buki  3 , Martha Austin-Garrison  2 , Linda V Garcia  2 , Christine A Hughes  1 , Christi A Patten  1
Affiliations

Adapting a Cancer Literacy Measure for Use Among Navajo Women

Kathleen J Yost et al. J Transcult Nurs. 2017 May.

Abstract

Purpose: The authors designed a community-based participatory research study to develop and test a family-based behavioral intervention to improve cancer literacy and promote mammography among Navajo women.

Method: Using data from focus groups and discussions with a community advisory committee, they adapted an existing questionnaire to assess cancer knowledge, barriers to mammography, and cancer beliefs for use among Navajo women. Questions measuring health literacy, numeracy, self-efficacy, cancer communication, and family support were also adapted.

Results: The resulting questionnaire was found to have good content validity, and to be culturally and linguistically appropriate for use among Navajo women.

Conclusions: It is important to consider culture and not just language when adapting existing measures for use with AI/AN (American Indian/Alaskan Native) populations. English-language versions of existing literacy measures may not be culturally appropriate for AI/AN populations, which could lead to a lack of semantic, technical, idiomatic, and conceptual equivalence, resulting in misinterpretation of study outcomes.

Keywords: American Indians; cancer literacy; health literacy; mammography; questionnaires.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2004. Atlanta, GA.: 2004.
    1. Baker DW, Williams MV, Parker RM, Gazmararian JA, Nurss J. Development of a brief test to measure functional health literacy. Patient Education and Counseling. 1999;38(1):33–42. - PubMed
    1. Bandura A. Chapter 14. Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales. In: Pajares F, Urdan T, editors. Self-efficacy Beliefs of Adolescents. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, Inc.; 2006. pp. 307–337.
    1. Beaton DE, Bombardier C, Guillemin F, Ferraz MB. Guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Spine. 2000;25(24):3186–3191. - PubMed
    1. Becker SA, Foxall M. An analysis of health behavior theories applied to breast-screening behavior for relevance with American Indian women. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. 2006;17(3):272–279. - PubMed

MeSH terms