Barriers Posed In Cancer Screenings

Chinese-American immigrants in California with limited English language proficiency and low health literacy are much less likely to undergo crucial cancer screenings, according to a new study.

The study focused on more than 1,400 Asian-American women and men. Although many large swaths of Asian-Americans are well assimilated into the U.S., up to 58% of immigrants from China have issues with English language proficiency, according to the study. 

Low health literacy was measured by whether study respondents could understand information they obtained at their physician's office or their ability to comprehend instructions written on a bottle of prescription medicine. The study suggested that low health literacy went hand-in-hand with language proficiency, but there were large numbers of study subjects deemed to be in either category as opposed to both.

As for the results, the gaps in who underwent preventative cancer screenings were significant. 

Although 85.5% of all the women surveyed had been screened for breast cancer, the compliance rates dropped to 69.2% among those with limited English proficiency and 36.3% among those with limited health literacy.

The compliance rate among those who underwent a cervical cancer screening/PAP smear was 77.8%, but only only 59.4% among those with low health literacy.

For colorectal cancer screenings, the overall compliance rate was 50.9%, but 39% among those with limited English proficiency and low health literacy and only slightly higher among groups that had either issue. But those with neither issue had a screening compliance rate of 61.4%.

Those with both LEP and low health literacy may fall outside many existing pathways of health communication as both English or adapted Chinese language print materials may not be accessible,” the study's authors concluded. They suggested that providers find more culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions.

The study was authored by researchers based at UC San Francisco, the University of Hawaii and Louisiana State University. It was based on data compiled through the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, which is managed by the UCLA Center for Health Policy.

IThe study was published in the most recent online edition of the BMJ, formerly the British Medical Journal.