{"id":6150,"date":"2010-08-06T20:08:45","date_gmt":"2010-08-06T20:08:45","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-08-06T20:08:45","modified_gmt":"2010-08-06T20:08:45","slug":"Hmong-American-Women-Far-Less-Likely-to-Get-Pap-Test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=6150","title":{"rendered":"Hmong-American Women Far Less Likely to Get Pap Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Asian-American community of Hmong women in California <\/strong>carries a stunning burden of cervical cancer and resulting mortality four times <\/strong>as high as non-Hispanic white women in California do. <\/p>\n

In possibly the first study to document a baseline in the Hmong community for women undergoing screening for cervical cancer, researchers found that \u201conly 74 percent have had a Pap test and only 61 percent have had this test within the past three years,\u201d<\/strong> said lead author Dao Moua Fang.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you compare this with California women overall \u2014 at 91 percent and 86 percent respectively \u2014 there is great disparity,\u201d said Fang, program manager at the Hmong Women\u2019s Heritage Association in Sacramento. <\/p>\n

Single, often American-born, educated, English-speaking Hmong women were least likely to get a Pap test<\/strong>. \u201cSome are in denial, wanting the Pap test for their mothers \u2014 but not themselves.\u201d Fang said. \u201cOthers are just unaware that they need a Pap test, because they were never advised to get one from their mothers or primary care physicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

This study, which appears in the August issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, includes all 402 women receiving services at the Heritage Association between mid-September and mid-December in 2006. <\/p>\n

Many Hmong women avoid screening and even treatment for cervical cancer for numerous reasons, among them cultural barriers and stigma<\/strong>, said Fang, who is herself Hmong. \u201cOlder women are shy and find physical exams and invasive therapies embarrassing. But they also are afraid that their spouse might leave them if they are diagnosed with human papillomavirus, an abnormal Pap smear, cervical cancer or anything that suggests they might have been unfaithful. And if women are not unfaithful, then they suspect that their spouse might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of this study, Fang and her colleagues developed a patient navigator program to make appointments, translate and provide one-on-one education about cervical cancer.<\/p>\n

This is an important study, because there is a serious lack of data on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander health<\/strong>, said Roxanna Bautista, chronic diseases program director at the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe data that do exist usually lump us all together as Asians,\u201d Bautista said. \u201cThis study demonstrates that keeping America\u2019s women and families healthy starts with outreach and education programs that take into account differences in language and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the latest U.S. Census bureau report, about 206,000 Hmong live in the United States at this time.<\/strong>
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