Most of the sodium Americans consume comes from processed and restaurant foods. An upstream global strategy to promote health is to work with local restaurants to reduce sodium content in their food offerings, while accounting for food taste and economic considerations. In urban communities, Chinese take-out restaurants serve meals with large amounts of sodium and are clustered in low-income, racial/ethnic minority communities with a high prevalence of hypertension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this cross-national study was to determine the leading social influences on smoking among Chinese Americans and mainland Chinese adults with the aim of improving prevention and intervention strategies to reduce smoking rates. A comparative cross-sectional design was used and a stratified-cluster sampling technique was employed in identifying the study sample. An 80-item questionnaire was administered in Chinese to 1222 participants, 812 in China and 410 in the U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: On a large scale, bio-specimen banking offers researchers the ability to newly understand areas like community genetics and to apply new sampling technologies to housed samples. Understanding cultural differences in knowledge and perceptions of bio-specimen banking allows for addressing community concerns and facilitates dissemination of culturally relevant health education.
Methods: Community-based participatory approaches (CBPA) provide opportunities to solicit community input and to build mechanisms for maximizing outcomes of potential interventions.
Background: The purpose of this community-based study was to develop a structural equation model for factors contributing to cervical cancer screening among Chinese American women.
Methods: A cross-sectional design included a sample of 573 Chinese American women aged 18 years and older. The initial step involved use of confirmatory factor analysis, that included the following variables: access to and satisfaction with health care, and enabling and predisposing cultural and health beliefs.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to validate a Sociocultural Health Behavior Model using a structural equation analysis to determine the direction and magnitude of the interdependence of model components in relation to health behavior associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among Chinese Americans.
Methods: A cross-sectional design included a sample of 311 Chinese American men and women age 50 and older. The initial step involved use of confirmatory factor analysis which included the following variables: access/satisfaction with health care, enabling, predisposing, cultural, and health belief factors.
The purpose of this community-based participatory study was to identify factors associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) screening compliance and non-compliance among Cambodians, Vietnamese, Koreans and Chinese men and women 50 years and older living in the United States. A cross-sectional design was used in the study. The completed sample included 815 Asian Americans which included Cambodians (N=215), Vietnamese (N=195), Koreans (N=94) and Chinese (N=311).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To apply the proposed Sociocultural Health Behavior Model to determine association of factors related to hepatitis B virus (HBV) screening among Asian Americans.
Methods: A cross-sectional design of 1312 Asian men and women 18 years and older. The frequency distribution analysis and chi square analysis were used for the initial screening of the following variables: access/satisfaction with health care, enabling, predisposing, cultural, and health belief factors.
Cancer Epidemiol
November 2009
Background: Despite evidence of a decline in both incidence and prevalence of colorectal cancer nationwide, it remains the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third highest cause of mortality among Asian Americans, including Korean Americans. This community-based and theoretically guided study evaluated a culturally appropriate intervention program that included a bilingual cancer educational program among Korean Americans including information on CRC risks, counseling to address psychosocial and access barriers, and patient navigation assistance.
Methods: A two-group quasi-experimental design with baseline and post-intervention assessment and a 12-month follow-up on screening was used in the study.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine factors associated with cervical cancer screening compliance and noncompliance among Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian women aged 18 years and older.
Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. The sample consisted of 1049 women aged 18 or older, of whom 37.
The study assessed the extent that Philadelphia's smoking ordinance diffused to Chinatown businesses and identified attitudinal and other barriers to implementation. Guided by constructs from Diffusion of Innovations and Theory of Planned Behavior, a cross-sectional study was conducted. The majority of business owners and employees lacked in-depth knowledge of relevant details of the policy, suggesting that the extent of its diffusion was limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To measure the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Hepatitis B (HBV) screening and vaccination in the Chinese American population.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 429 Chinese in New York City. Participants were recruited from Chinese community-based organizations.
Hepatitis B (HBV) infection plays a primary role in the development of liver cancer, contributing to nearly 80% of liver cancer cases. Vietnamese males have the highest incidence of liver cancer of any ethnic group, and HBV infection is a serious and prevalent health problem among Vietnamese immigrants. Guided by the Health Belief Model framework, the purpose of the present study was to assess levels of perceived risk, severity, barriers and benefits, and cues to action in HBV screening and vaccination in relation to actual screening and vaccination behavior in a sample of Vietnamese adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAsian Americans are the fastest growing and the second largest foreign-born ethnic group in the United States. Cancer is a leading cause of death among Asian Americans. The Asian Tobacco Education and Cancer Awareness Research (ATECAR) Special Population Network, Center for Asian Health, aimed to reduce or eliminate cancer health disparities in these diverse, underserved populations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study seeks to measure exposure to secondhand smoke and to evaluate potential differences in knowledge, attitudes, and tolerance of secondhand smoke among subgroups of Asian Americans in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1374 Asian Americans, which included Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Cambodians. The sample was selected by using a stratified-cluster proportional sampling technique.
The present study examined tobacco use, secondhand smoke exposure and related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among Asian Americans in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and the relationship between acculturation and smoking, social influence patterns on smoking, and stages of change of smoking among Asian subgroups. Study sample was 1174 Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Cambodians, and other Asians. Findings revealed mean age of initiation to be 18.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the past few decades, community-based participatory research, which underscores the indispensable role of the community in all phases of the research process, has been recognized as a viable approach to working constructively with communities to achieve mutually beneficial goals. This article presents a history of the Asian Tobacco Education, Cancer Awareness and Research's pioneering efforts in conducting community-based participatory research among Asian Americans in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Information about project background, target populations, and the rationale for the conduct of community-based participatory research in American communities is provided.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe relationship between acculturation and smoking behavior was examined in four Asian-American groups that included recent immigrants and US-born Koreans, Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodians residing in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The study was part of a community-based, comprehensive cross-sectional study designed to assess a broad array of knowledge, attitudes and behaviors on tobacco use and tobacco-related cancer issues in the target multi-ethnic and multi-lingual Asian-American community. The sample of 1374 respondents was selected using a stratified-cluster proportional sampling technique, with a response rate of 83%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study assessed the impact of demographics and acculturation on stages of change in smoking behavior among Asian current smokers (Koreans, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodians) who live in the Delaware Valley region. Three stages (precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation) that applied to current smokers in Prochaska's Transtheoretical Model were measured, with a small modification. A cross-sectional self-report survey was conducted by utilizing a stratified cluster proportional sampling technique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study examined tobacco use rates and potential predictors of use among Asian Americans residing in the Delaware Valley region.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample consisted of 1174 Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Cambodians.