ABSTRACT
American Indian women experience disproportionately high rates of cervical cancer morbidity and mortality, yet cancer screening services tend to be underutilized. Using the Health Belief Model (HBM) with a survey of American Indian women (N = 286) in South Dakota, findings indicate that only 59% received Pap test within the past 2 years. Significant predictors of Pap test included advanced age, higher BMI, greater awareness of Pap test, greater motivation, and lower barriers to screening. Findings highlight the importance of considering awareness of cancer screening and HBM constructs (barriers and motivation) in the examination of programs to improve screening among this population.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.