Cancer is the leading cause of death for Korean Americans, and breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in Korean American women, according to recent studies. Many Korean American women are diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, partly due to a lack of screening for the disease.
In a new study, Kyeung Oh of the School of Nursing, Kathryn Jacobsen of the Department of Global and Community Health, and Karen Taylor, MPH ‘13, conduct a systematic review of breast cancer screening among Korean Americans. The review is published in the Journal of Community Health.
“We know that Korean Americans face several obstacles that contribute to low cancer screening rates, including a lack of information about cancer and cancer screenings and lack of medical insurance,” Oh said. “However, there have not been extensive reviews of the literature that examine breast cancer screening among Korean Americans.”
The authors conducted a search of eight databases and identified 38 articles to include in the systematic review. Nine studies examined interventions, while the remaining 29 were observational studies that used interviews or self-administered questionnaires.
“Our review showed that mammography rates among Korean Americans have increased during the past two decades and the rate of clinical breast examinations also increased,” Oh said. “However, improvement is still needed to help reduce breast cancer rates in this population. Additional research should focus on effective interventions for increasing cancer screening among Korean American women.”