A new survey of Hispanic adults residing in Indiana may present a snapshot of their cancer-related knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors and provide guidance for the future development of tailored cancer screening messaging and prevention strategies, according to a study published by Espinoza-Gutarra et al in Cancer Medicine.
Background
Cancer is the leading cause of death among Hispanic individuals in Indiana as well as the rest of the United States.
“[T]he Midwest and the South have in the past 10 to 15 years become what is called a gateway destination. The number of recent Hispanic arrivals is noticeable because there were not that many to begin with. What we’ve seen in our study of Indiana is the fine-grained stages of the trajectory of integration that occur, distinct from the traditional Hispanic areas of the [United States]—[such as] Southern California, Texas, and Florida,” detailed co–study author Gerardo Maupomé, BDS, MSc, PhD, Professor and Associate Dean of Research at the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University.
Study Methods and Results
In the new study, the researchers asked 1,520 Hispanic individuals residing in Indiana with a median age of 53 years to complete a survey. The average age of the Hispanic population surveyed was 53 years. Among the survey respondents, 11% of them self-identified as Indigenous or Mestizo, 6% of them identified as multiracial, and 1.5% identified as Black. Approximately 52% of the respondents were male.
Additionally, about 50% of the respondents completed the survey in Spanish; 60% of respondents were born in the United States, 14% were born in Mexico, 7% were born in Cuba, 6% were born in Puerto Rico, and 13% were born in another country.
The researchers noted that several of the survey’s findings were unexpected and may merit further exploration. These included:
- Urban and rural Hispanic individuals did not differ in their cancer knowledge, beliefs, or behaviors.
- Hispanic individuals born in the United States who had higher income and education were more likely to believe they were at risk of developing cancer and to worry about getting cancer.
- Although educational level was positively associated with knowledge, it did not correlate with adherence to screening guidelines—with the exception of cervical cancer.
- Most survey respondents were unable to accurately identify ages to begin screening for breast, colorectal, or lung cancer, which also has been observed in non-Hispanic populations.
“Our findings could help guide both future research and public health outreach targeting high-risk groups, in this case Hispanic [individuals],” suggested corresponding and senior study author David Haggstrom, MD, MAS, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and Director of the Regenstrief Institute Center for Health Services Research. “We want to reach all age groups in the Hispanic community with cancer screening approaches to reduce the burden of disease. Given that cancer is of greater incidence and prevalence among older individuals, this is an audience that we especially want to learn more about, so we can promote cancer screenings among them,” he added.
The researchers explained that because the online survey was conducted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, they faced in-person recruitment challenges. Prospective survey respondents were reached via television, social media outreach, and the Facebook pages of Hispanic community organizations.
“Using nontraditional approaches, we tapped into a lot of different groups that make up the Hispanic community, including first- and second-generation immigrants; [individuals across] a wide distribution of income, education, and ages; as well as representatives of the approximately one-fourth of the Hispanic population that does not appear in usual sampling frameworks like driver’s license lists,” revealed Dr. Maupomé.
Conclusions
“Hispanics residing in Indiana are somewhat representative of Hispanics residing in the Midwest, although not necessarily representative of Hispanics residing in other areas of the United States due, in part, to variations in immigration patterns,” noted Dr. Haggstrom. “To our knowledge, this is the only data collection and analysis of [Hispanic individuals] residing in the Midwest that enables drilling down on the associations in this population of knowledge and beliefs with behaviors,” he emphasized.
“Conducting this survey was particularly challenging because we knew that many in the Hispanic community would not be easy to find unless [we] knew how to get a hold of them. Collecting data from hard-to-reach populations within the Hispanic community, we expanded considerably the body of knowledge about what are the risk factors and the beliefs and the behaviors that modify cancer experience,” Dr. Maupomé concluded.
Disclosure: The research in this study was funded by the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. For full disclosures of the study authors, visit onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
