Abstract D020: Addressing the needs of Cedars-Sinai Cancer’s catchment area: Cancer screening compliance among the Korean community in Los Angeles
Authors: Kim Dong Hee , Lin Yu-Chen , Jeon Christie Y. , Finster Laurel , Levine A. Joan , Surani Zul , Haile Robert W. 
Published: September 2020

Background: Breast cancer screening rates among Korean American women lag behind other populations in the US; additionally, this population has the lowest mammography adherence rates of all the Asian subgroups. The rates of invasive breast cancer among Korean women in Los Angeles County (LAC) have also increased dramatically, which leads to poor outcomes. Early detection of breast cancer provides a greater range of treatment options and often better survival rates. Given this, we want to understand the unique barriers that Korean women in LAC face in order to adequately serve our catchment area. Methods: To understand the context of cancer screening compliance among Koreans in LAC, the Research Center for Health Equity (RCHE) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center conducted a culturally adapted survey within its catchment area. We developed a Cancer and Healthcare in Los Angeles Survey (CHILAS) with feedback from Korean community leaders. The survey targeting females has 31 questions and covers screening behavior, medical history, and health care access. The survey was adapted with feedback from Korean community leaders and printed in the Korean language. A free cancer education workshop was offered post survey. For the purposes of the current analyses, we focused on participants were Korean women &gt;= 18 yrs who reside in LAC. Surveys were administered at seven different faith-based venues, such as churches and Buddhist temples, during a three-month period. Results: 126 female participants were age eligible (age 45 and above) to answer the mammography screening cancer question and 52 (41.3%) of them had their screening up to date. 113 participants answered both the question about mammography screening and knowing someone with cancer. Of those who ‘knew someone with cancer’ (N=75), 46% had their screening up to date (N=35). Of those who ‘did not know someone with cancer’ (N=38), 34% had their screening up to date (N=13), the difference was not significant (p-value =0.21). Two of the top reasons for not getting screened were 1) not feeling sick and 2) no health insurance. Moreover, speaking the same language as the primary provider, financial status, length of waiting for an appointment, and transportation were not associated with breast cancer screening. Although mammography rates were low, colonoscopy rates among age eligible participants in the survey were very high (94.5%), leading us to believe there are unique factors to low mammography screening in Korean women. Future direction: To our knowledge, there are no existing awareness programs to increase mammography screening for this population. We know that faith-based organizations can increase screening behaviors among parishioners and can be an effective avenue for improving health outcomes. Through the engagement with elders, RCHE has formed an extensive network of partnerships with faith-based organizations we will identify the unique barriers to mammography compliance in Korean Americans.

Citation Format: Dong Hee Kim, Yu-Chen Lin, Christie Y. Jeon, Laurel Finster, A. Joan Levine, Zul Surani, Robert W. Haile. Addressing the needs of Cedars-Sinai Cancer’s catchment area: Cancer screening compliance among the Korean community in Los Angeles [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr D020.