Khmer American Mothers' Knowledge about HPV and HBV Infection and Their Perceptions of Parenting: My English Speaking Daughter Knows More

Abstract

SUMMARY Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore and describe Khmer mothers’ understanding of HBV and HPV prevention as well as their perception of parenting on health and health education of their daughters in the US. Methods The qualitative pilot study guided by the revised Network Episode Model and informed by ethnographic analysis and community-based purposive sampling method were used. Face-to-face audiotaped interviews with eight Khmer mothers were conducted by bilingual female middle-aged community health leaders who spoke Khmer. Results The findings revealed that Khmer mothers clearly lacked knowledge about HBV and HPV infection prevention and had difficulty understanding and educating their daughters about health behavior, especially on sex-related topics. The findings showed that histo-sociocultural factors are integrated with the individual factor, and these factors influenced the HBV and HPV knowledge and perspective of Khmer mothers’ parenting. Conclusion The study suggests that situation-specific conceptual and methodological approaches that take into account the uniqueness of the sociocultural context of CAs is a novel method for identifying factors that are significant in shaping the perception of Khmer mothers’ health education related to HBV and HPV prevention among their daughters. The communication between mother and daughter about sex and the risk involved in contracting HBV and HPV has been limited, partly because it is seen as a “taboo subject” and partly because mothers think that schools educate their children regarding sexuality and health.

Factors Associated with HPV Vaccination among Cambodian American Teenagers

“…Our findings further reiterate the problem reported by the IOM in 2010 (Smedley, Stith, & Nelson, ), that many Americans do not understand the health information they receive well enough to make informed decisions and act on them. Our previous studies reported lexical problems CA experience related to the lack of Khmer words for health terms (Lee et al., ,b), suggesting that health care providers need to develop culturally and linguistically relevant health communication skills, such as using culturally and linguistically competent health translators or drawings or stories to ensure that patients relate to information in ways that empower them to act on it.…”

“…A bilingual Khmer and English health survey about HPV vaccination was developed based on exhaustive literature review and qualitative data and was tested for face and content validity (Lee et al., , b). The health survey was pretested with cognitive interviews which provided formative validity through assessing item content, item styles, comprehensiveness, and responsiveness (Lee et al., , b). During the cognitive testing stage of research, we discussed whether the participants who had never heard of HPV should then skip the subsequent knowledge questions.…”

“…Furthermore, there is no precise Khmer word for HPV. Therefore, as suggested by Cambodian health leaders and interviewers, we decided to add an additional statement about HPV with a diagram after we asked the question about awareness of HPV (Lee et al., ,b). HPV vaccination rates for girls, boys, and mothers were measured.…”

Maternal health literacy and health numeracy conceptualizations in public health: A scoping review

“…Furthermore, the research evidence suggests adding an "I don't know" category in surveys during data collection, as best practice, since mothers may not comprehend specific health conditions (Lee et al, 2015).…”

Effect of community‐based education to Korean mothers in relation to the prevention of cervical cancer in their daughters: A non‐randomized trial

“…Recently, the importance of communication between mothers and daughters regarding HPV and cervical cancer prevention has been highlighted in light of mothers’ hesitation and lack of confidence in sharing or discussing sexual topics (Francis et al , ; Gross, Laz, Rahman, & Berenson, ; Iliyasu, Aliyu, Abubakar, & Galadanci, ; Kim & Kim, ; Lee et al , ). Mothers’ lack of information about sexual health is associated with a negative perception and a lack of discussion about sexual behavior with their daughters (Abril et al , ).…”