Abstract B58: Differences in cervical cancer knowledge among minority women in Miami
Authors: Ilangovan Kumar , Koru-Sengul Tulay , Kobetz-Kerman Erin , Carrasquillo Olveen 
Published: May 2015

Background: Minority women suffer disproportionately from cervical cancer incidence and mortality. Education initiatives aimed at improving cervical cancer knowledge may lead to increased appropriate screening and reductions in morbidity. Baseline data describing the variable levels of knowledge among specific minority and underserved communities will aid the design of such programs.

Methods: The South Florida Center for Reducing Cancer Disparities is a comprehensive NCI initiative focused on the reduction and ultimate elimination of cervical cancer disparities in Miami-Dade County. As part of an ongoing randomized intervention study, we collected baseline data on cervical cancer knowledge among three minority communities: Little Haiti, Hialeah (90% Latino), and West Perrine (mixed community). Eligibility criteria included women aged 30-65 years and not having had a Pap smear in the past three years. Knowledge was assessed using questions from the NCI's Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), which we translated and back translated into Haitian Kreyol and Spanish. We used Fisher's exact test to examine differences in knowledge across minority subgroups. We then used univariate and multivariate logistic regression models to control for additional sociodemographic correlates of higher cervical cancer knowledge.

Results: Among the 334 women enrolled to date, 53% are Latina, 39% Haitian, and 8% African American (AA). We found 44% of Latinas, 25% of AAs and 7% of Haitians answered &gt;50% of questions correctly (P&lt;0.0001). Years of education and marital status, but not age, were significantly associated with higher levels of knowledge (P&lt;0.05). In multivariate analysis, adjusting for these potential confounders, Haitians (OR=0.17; 95%CI: 0.08-0.38; P&lt;0.0001) and AAs (OR=0.56; 95%CI: 0.2-1.53; P=0.2565) were less likely to answer &gt;50% of questions correctly compared to Latinas. In a subgroup analysis of Latinas, we found 49% of Cubans (n=101) answered &gt;50% of questions correctly versus 37% of non-Cubans (n=76), however there was no significant difference in knowledge between groups, including when adjusting for potential confounders (OR =1.41; 95%CI: 0.74-2.69; P=0.2957).

Conclusions: Among minority women in Miami who had not been adequately screened for cervical cancer, Haitians had the lowest levels of cervical cancer knowledge, even after correcting for sociodemographic differences. Among Latinas, Cubans had a higher level of knowledge but this result was not statistically significant. As more women are enrolled in our study (target 600) we will have greater power to detect potential differences among AAs. We have developed and are now testing culturally tailored educational interventions aimed at decreasing the cervical cancer knowledge gap in these vulnerable groups.

Citation Format: Kumar Ilangovan, Tulay Koru-Sengul, Erin Kobetz-Kerman, Olveen Carrasquillo. Differences in cervical cancer knowledge among minority women in Miami. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B58. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-B58