Psychological and Neuropsychological Predictors of Non-Compliance to Mammography Screening Among High-Risk African American Women
Abstract
The breast cancer death rate is high for African American women compared to U.S. national figures and an explanation is that African American women are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer disease. Regular mammography screenings reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer by helping to detect the disease at an early stage. Although effective, the number of women engaging in repeat screenings is low, and this is the case for women with a family history of breast cancer. Improving use of mammography screening and subsequently reducing breast cancer deaths will involve an understanding of psychological and neuropsychological factors impacting repeat mammography screenings. This project proposed to evaluate the relationship among psychological distress (anxiety and intrusive thoughts about breast cancer), executive cognitive function (ECF) - cognitive flexibility, and adherence to repeat mammography screenings. Sixty-one women completed background surveys, measures of general distress (Brief Symptom Inventory), cancer-specific distress (Impact of Event Scale-Intrusion) and executive cognitive function (Wisconsin Card Sort Task and Stroop Color Word Test). Regression analyses revealed significant relationships between distress and executive cognitive function. Further, while psychological distress significantly discriminated adherers and non-adherers of mammography utilization, employment status emerged to be the only significant factor in explaining mammography utilization.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA448225
Entities
People
- Ometha Lewis-jack
- Sharon L. Steele
Organizations
- Howard University