FACTORS RELATED TO THE ADOPTION OF EARLY DETECTION OF BREAST AND CERVICAL  CANCER AMONG WOMEN OF MEXICAN ANCESTRY AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING EDUCATION

                         ALVAREZ, MARIA R.; PHD

                         NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY, 1986

                         EDUCATION, HEALTH (0680); HEALTH SCIENCES, NURSING (0569)
 

                         Administrators of nursing departments should be concerned with developing curricula that prepare
                         nursing students to diffuse knowledge to the community about disease prevention and health
                         promotion. This diffusion study identified breast and cervical cancer early detection practices among the
                         population of Mexican origin women in El Paso, Texas. The study's objective was to identify factors
                         associated with early detection practices. The proposition that income, medical coverage, educational
                         level, place of birth, age, and attitudes predict the early detection practices of Mexican origin women was
                         investigated. The practice of breast and cervical cancer early detection behaviors was defined as the
                         monthly practice of breast self-examination and having a breast examination and Papanicolaou smear
                         within three years preceding the interview. A bilingual, piloted twenty-item questionnaire was
                         administered to a sample of 400 women of Mexican ancestry in 39 census tracts in El Paso in a stratified
                         cluster sampling scheme. Stepwise logistic regression and contingency table analysis arrived at similar
                         results. Younger age, more years of education, and higher monthly income were identified as the most
                         important variables differentiating adopters from nonadopters of early detection behaviors. Neither fear,
                         embarrassment, nor preference for a woman examiner were significant. The association with marital
                         status, number of children, amount of medical coverage, and country of origin, however, was
                         questionable and requires further study. Recommendations included (a) implications for nursing
                         education, (b) application in a nursing curriculum and (c) replication of the study. Nursing curricula should
                         offer free standing courses which cover the entire spectrum of health education, including the
                         innovation-decision process.
 
 
 

Social Systems Simulation Group P.O. Box 6904 San Diego, CA  92166-0904 Roland Werner, Principal Phone/FAX  (619) 660-1603