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Minority
Patients discouraged from
Cancer Screening by negative messages
Newswise — New behavioral science research
published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers
& Prevention, a journal of the American
Association for Cancer Research, found that
constantly emphasizing the negative
consequences of a lack of cancer screening
among minorities can actually make them less
likely to go for screening.
“We have typically assumed that one of the
best ways to motivate individuals is to
point out disparities in health, but we may
be having negative unintended consequences,”
said Robert Nicholson, Ph.D., an assistant
professor in the Department of Neurology and
Psychiatry at the St. Louis University
School of Public Health.
“Instead of motivating people who would be
less likely to get these services in the
first place, we may be driving them away.”
Minority communities have been historically
underserved by cutting edge medical efforts,
and leaders in cancer and other health
groups have tried to increase awareness and
compliance with known prevention and
treatment strategies.
However, whether this communication was
effective was not known.
Nicholson and colleagues conducted a
double-blind, randomized trial among 300
African-American adults.
The adults were asked to read one of four
articles about colon cancer and then answer
questions about their likelihood of getting
screened.
The first article emphasized that colon
cancer was an important problem for
African-Americans.
The second emphasized that outcomes for
blacks with colon cancer were worse than for
whites, while a third said that although
outcomes for African-Americans were
improving the improvement was less than seen
among whites.
Finally, a fourth article discussed how
outcomes for blacks with colon cancer were
improving over time.
If African-Americans read the article that
said outcomes for blacks were improving over
time, they were more likely to have a
positive emotional response than if they
read any of the other three articles.
The article most likely to cause a negative
response was the one that simply stated the
problem.
Similarly, those that read the article about
African-Americans making progress in
outcomes for colon cancer were far more
likely to want to be screened than those who
read any of the other three articles.
The mean age of the participants was 54.4
years, 76 percent were women and 89 percent
had completed high school. Comprehension
analysis found that all participants
understood what they had read.
Nicholson said they did not ask questions
about motivation, but he suggests that a
general mistrust of the medical community
may be playing a role.
If information reinforces that mistrust,
then African-Americans are less likely to be
screened.
“We believe that a positive message would go
a long way toward overcoming mistrust,”
Nicholson said.
“We need the right kind of message for the
right kind of person, and not to assume that
what we have always done is working.”
The mission of the American Association for
Cancer Research is to prevent and cure
cancer.
Founded in 1907, AACR is the world’s oldest
and largest professional organization
dedicated to advancing cancer research.
The membership includes more than 28,000
basic, translational and clinical
researchers; health care professionals; and
cancer survivors and advocates in the United
States and 80 other countries.
AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise
from the cancer community to accelerate
progress in the prevention, diagnosis and
treatment of cancer through high-quality
scientific and educational programs.
It funds innovative, meritorious research
grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts
more than 17,000 participants who share the
latest discoveries and developments in the
field.
Special conferences throughout the year
present novel data across a wide variety of
topics in cancer research, treatment and
patient care.
AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed
journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer
Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics;
Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer
Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The AACR’s most recent publication and its
sixth major journal, Cancer Prevention
Research, is dedicated exclusively to cancer
prevention, from preclinical research to
clinical trials.
The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for
cancer survivors and their families, patient
advocates, physicians and scientists.
CR provides a forum for sharing essential,
evidence-based information and perspectives
on progress in cancer research, survivorship
and advocacy.
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