Research Article
Health Literacy, English Language Proficiency and Mammogram: An Analysis of Largest State Health Survey in the United States
Monideepa B. Becerra, Paulchris Okpala,
Geraldine Fike, Benjamin J. Becerra
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Monideepa B. Becerra
Associate Professor
Department
of Health Science and Human Ecology
California State University
San Bernardino, California, USA
Tel: 909-537-5969
Email: MBECERRA@CSUSB.EDU
Received on: April 19, 2018, Accepted on: May 10, 2018, Published on: May 18, 2018
Citation: Monideepa B. Becerra, Paulchris Okpala, Geraldine Fike, Benjamin J. Becerra (2018). Health Literacy, English Language Proficiency and
Mammogram: An Analysis of Largest State Health Survey in the United States
Copyright: 2018 Monideepa B. Becerra, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Objective: We utilized the largest state health survey in the United States, California Health Interview Survey to evaluate if low English language proficiency with a combination of low health literacy impacted mammogram screening among women.
Methods: We conducted survey weighted descriptive, bivariate, and multivariable regression analyses. All analyses were conducted with alpha less than .05 to denote significance.
Results: A total of 25,958 women aged 40 or older were included in our study. Low English language proficiency was found in 8% of the population, while nearly 13% had low health literacy, and another 7% had both. Not having a mammogram was highest among those with both low English language proficiency and low health literacy. Results of regression analysis show that women with both low English language proficiency and low health literacy were 42% less likely to have a mammogram.
Conclusion: Mammogram screening remains one of the most common methods of preventing breast cancer. Our study shows that targeted health education and preventive care is needed for women who do not speak English and have low health literacy.