Dissertation Abstract

Determinants of Noncompliance of Breast Screening Behaviors Among Dade County Women (Women's Health, Florida).

The purpose of this study was to examine and determine the relationship of variables regarding women's noncompliance to breast screening behaviors (Self Breast Examination (SBE), Clinical Breast Examination (CBE), and Mammography) as a needs assessment for intervention research and development directed at decreasing noncompliance of breast screening behaviors. A telephone interview was employed to gather a stratified random sample of Dade County's three main ethnic communities: Hispanics, non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks.

The objectives of the study focused on three primary areas of exploration: (1) Psychological Variables examined were: anxiety, cognitive distortions associated with cancer, knowledge of cancer, and perceived cancer self-efficacy and self breast examination self-confidence, (2) Access Variables examined were: utilization of medical services, insurance coverage, and household income, and (3) Socio-cultural Variables examined were: ethnicity, age, education level, religiosity, marital status, and employment.

The research employed a random stratified cross-sectional sampling frame. A telephone survey was utilized to: (1) increase the response rate from face to face interviewing, and, (2) reach a large random stratified sample of Dade county women (N = 395) (in a timely fashion). The questionnaire was designed for this study specifically to measure three psychological dimensions, access variables of women's health practices, socio-cultural variables, and demographics and served as a basis to answer the five research questions of the study.

The results revealed anxiety, knowledge of cancer, SBE self-confidence, annual checkup, yearly gynecological and country of origin to be significantly correlated with the dependent variable, total breast screening behaviors. Systematic evaluation of the significant variables and their implications for social work intervention, development, and research are presented.

This dissertation citation and abstract are published with permission of ProQuest Information and Learning. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.