Abstract C085: Neighborhood built environment was significantly associated with colorectal cancer screening among underserved Vietnamese American adults
Authors: Bhimla Aisha , Johnson Cecily , Do Phuong , Lee Minsun , Ma Grace X 
Published: September 2020

Introduction: Colorectal Cancer (CRC) places a significant burden among Asian Americans, and prevailing as the second most common cancer diagnosis and third leading cause of cancer mortality. Vietnamese Americans represent an Asian American subgroup with many being foreign-born, having limited English proficiency, living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and reporting substantially low levels of CRC screening. The built environment that surrounds where individuals reside impacts health outcomes and behaviors, including cancer risk factors and morbidity. The purpose of the study was to determine whether neighborhood walkability and transit accessibility were associated with CRC screening among underserved Vietnamese Americans. Methods: Vietnamese American adults aged 50 and older enrolled in a multilevel CRC screening intervention were recruited from 20 community-based organizations in the Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey regions. A total of 804 cross-sectional baseline surveys were collected from participants to determine their screening behavior, including past colonoscopy and fecal immunochemical test (FIT) screenings. Built environmental factors were measured using the Walk Score™ and Transit Score™. Results: Multiple logistic regression analyses illustrated that a one unit increase in Transit ScoreÒ was associated with an 2.6% higher odds of obtaining a colonoscopy (OR 1.026, 95% CI 1.001-1.051, p=0.039) and 7% higher odds of obtaining a FIT (OR 1.069, 95% CI 1.025-1.116, p=0.002) after controlling for covariates including age, gender, marital status, education level health insurance status, having a primary care physician and English fluency. Neighborhood walkability measured by the Walk Score was not significantly associated with having obtained a colonoscopy or FIT. Discussion: This study elucidates the impact of the built environment on CRC screening and accessibility of services among Vietnamese Americans. Future assessment and intervention studies should address and incorporate built environmental components to address CRC risk behaviors and screening among potentially underserved populations. Keywords: built environment; colorectal cancer screening; Vietnamese Americans Acknowledgement This research project was supported by grant U01MD010627 (PI: Grace X. Ma, PhD) funded by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of National Institute of Health (NIH), and partially supported by the grant of U54 CA221704(5) funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of NIH (Contact PIs: Grace X. Ma, PhD and Olorunseun O. Ogunwobi, MD, PhD). The contents of this abstract are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIMHD or the NCI, NIH.

Citation Format: Aisha Bhimla, Cecily Johnson, Phuong Do, Minsun Lee, Grace X Ma. Neighborhood built environment was significantly associated with colorectal cancer screening among underserved Vietnamese American adults [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 C085.