Prevalent Health Concerns Among African American W

Authors: Gladys B Asiedu Sharonne N Hayes Karen Patricia Williams Matthew R Bondaryk Michele Y Halyard Monica W Parker Joyce E BallsBerry Vivian W Pinn Carmen Radecki Breitkopf

Publish Date: 2015/12/22

Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Pages: 19-24

PDF Link

Abstract

African American women bear a disproportionate burden of cardiovascular disease CVD and cancer The purpose of this study was to identify prevalent health concerns among African American women who are members of The Links Incorporated Links a large national service organization with health programming for communities of colorSurvey data n = 391 were collected during the 2012 Links National Assembly Twentysix health issues were presented within five groups cancer CVD pulmonary disease chronic conditions and behavioral health For each issue women indicated if it was a concern for “you/your family” or “the African American community” via checkboxes Differences in the proportions for “you/your family” and “the African American community” were evaluated using the McNemar testHypertension was the most frequently endorsed concern for you/your family 79  73  indicated this was a concern for the African American community Sickle cell anemia was the most frequently endorsed concern for the African American community 77  Melanoma was the least endorsed health issue overall 15  you/your family 55  community Breast was the most frequently endorsed cancer concern while lung was among the least For 23 out of 26 health issues the proportion concerned was greater for the “African American community” than for “you/your family” all p  005CVD and breast cancer were salient concerns both are topics for which national awareness campaigns and Links health programming exist Comparatively lower concern was observed for melanoma a cancer with known survival disparities and for lung cancer a leading cause of death in womenThe research presented in this paper is that of the authors and does not reflect the official policy of the National Institutes of Health NIH Financial support for this research was provided by the Mayo Clinic Office of Health Disparities Research OHDR and by the NIH R21 CA191028 awarded to Drs Radecki Breitkopf and Williams MPIs IRB 12003252 No financial disclosures were reported by the authors of this paper Dr Radecki Breitkopf had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data She analyzed the data with Mr Bondaryk and drafted the manuscript with Dr Asiedu Drs Hayes Williams Halyard Parker BallsBerry and Pinn contributed to the data collection and provided organizational knowledge and content expertise for this work All authors contributed to the writing of the final manuscript The results of this study were presented at the 22nd Annual Women’s Health Congress April 4–6 2014 in Washington DCAll procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study

Keywords: