Abstract A008: Addressing medical distrust among African Americans and adherence to cancer screening recommendations during COVID-19
Authors: Hunter-Richardson Finie , Carter-Nolan Pamela L. , Williams Carla D. , Johnson Mark S. 
Published: December 2023

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the United States especially among racial and ethnic minorities, and other medically underserved populations.  Cancer disparities are an important public health issue with health communication implications particularly for African Americans. African Americans have the highest mortality rate and shortest survival rate for most cancers.  Reducing the cancer burden depends on early detection through preventative screening and addressing social determinants of health that drive cancer health inequities.  Despite the evidence that adherence to providers’ recommendation of cancer screening guidelines decreases incidence and mortality rates, participation in cancer screening remain low among African Americans due to social and economic factors. The reasons for cancer-related health disparities are multifactorial and encompass physician and patient barriers. Medical distrust has emerged as a significant issue impacting cancer prevention especially during the coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) pandemic.  Mistrust of the medical and research communities reflects the history of abuse and discrimination in the U.S., and has resulted in disparate health outcomes, as well as less frequent use of preventive health services.  It is critical that populations at increased cancer risk have access to trusted, credible cancer health information and medical services to promote adherence to screening recommendations.  To address this need, this cross-sectional study will examine the patient-provider communication practices among African American adults receiving primary care in the District of Columbia and their adherence to breast, cervical, colon and prostate cancer screening recommendations during the COVID era. The study is guided by an understanding of the social determinants of health. Specifically, the study will examine the relationship of trust, structural racism, and religiosity on cancer prevention behavior. The project will describe the perceptions of health inequities within the healthcare system and trust in cancer information sources that influence cancer screening behaviors among African Americans. This project is relevant to the reduction of cancer disparities and cancer prevention for African Americans.  Patient-provider communication is a known barrier and facilitator of cancer screening behavior where an awareness of historical distrust of medical institutions, systemic racism, and religiosity are important factors in providing culturally appropriate care.  The results of this pilot project will be used to inform best practices for patient-provider communication for cancer prevention. Findings will be used to develop culturally tailored interventions to promote compliance for cancer screening during the COVID era and beyond.

Citation Format: Finie Hunter-Richardson, Pamela L. Carter-Nolan, Carla D. Williams, Mark S. Johnson. Addressing medical distrust among African Americans and adherence to cancer screening recommendations during COVID-19 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A008.