Validity of the process of change for colorectal cancer screening among African Americans.

Background: Process of change (POC) is a construct of the transtheoretical model that proposes to promote healthy behaviors.

Purpose: African Americans participate in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening less often than whites, while disease onset is younger, and incidence and mortality from CRC are higher.

Methods: POC items for CRC screening were administered to 158 African Americans, the majority of whom were female (75.9%) and were not employed (85.4%). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate four factors reflecting the POC sub-domains.

Results: Support of the factor validity of the POC with internal consistency of standardized alpha for the four factors was found. A logistic regression showed predictive validity in predicting current screening stage for two of the four sub-domains.

Conclusion: These data support the application of the POC to prediction of CRC screening intention among African Americans.