The Influence of Health Literacy and Acculturation on Cancer Screening Behaviors Among Older Chinese Americans

Objective: Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization was used as a framework to examine the influence of acculturation and health literacy on cancer screening behaviors among older Chinese Americans living in the greater Chicago area. Method: Data were obtained from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (N = 3,157; mean age = 72.8 years). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the impact of acculturation and health literacy on lifetime cancer screening utilizations and adherence to cancer screening guideline established by American Cancer Society (ACS) after controlling for predisposing, enabling, and need factors of Andersen’s behavioral model. Results: Lifetime rates of ever had cancer screening were low among older Chinese Americans living in the greater Chicago area. The majority of study participants were not adherent to ACS early detection cancer screening guidelines. Results from multivariate analyses showed that higher health literacy (odds ratio range = 1.39-1.72) and acculturation (odds ratio range = 1.28-2.06) levels were associated with an increased likelihood of lifetime and current cancer screening among older Chinese Americans. Discussion: The findings of this study highlight the importance of working to improve health literacy and developing effective interventions to increase cancer screening among older Chinese Americans.