Breast Cancer Screening 2
According to the U. S. Census (2001), Hispanics constitute approximately 12 percent of
the U.S. population, having increased by 58 percent from 22.4 million in 1990 to 35.3 million in
2000. As the population continues to grow, health concerns associated with this population are
gaining prominence. One of the pressing health concerns for Hispanic women is breast cancer
(American Cancer Society, 2001). Breast cancer is the leading type of cancer among Hispanic
women in the United States accounting for 30 percent of all types of cancer (American Cancer
Society, 2001). Hispanic women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer at a later
stage, resulting in a lower chance of survival (Bentley, Delfino, Taylor, Howe, & Anton-Culver,
1998; Hunter, 2000; Richardson, Langholz, Bernstein, Burciaga, & Ross, 1992). Researchers
have found that the reason for the later detection is that Hispanic women are less likely to utilize
the three breast screening techniques recommended for early detection: breast self examination
(BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE), and mammogram (American Cancer Society, 2001;
Coe et al., 1994; Saint-Germain, & Longman, 1993).
While a number of studies in recent years have examined why breast cancer screening is
relatively low among Hispanic women and explored interventions to increase screening behavior
(Navarro et al., 1995; Perez-Stable, Otero-Sabogal, Sabogal, & Naploes-Springer, 1996; Ramirez
et al., 1995), a complete understanding of Hispanic women screening behaviors has not been
achieved. One reason for this is that receptivity and response to the intended message of the
importance of screening has not been fully explored (Rimer, 2000). For example, the
development of marketing campaigns and strategies to increase breast cancer screening
continues without focused attention on the effectiveness of the campaign as perceived by the
targeted population (Marshal, Smith, & McKeon, 1995). One of the critical elements to
understand the target population of Hispanic women is to investigate the critical cultural
Convention