Qualitative assessment of knowledge and attitudes towards cervical cancer screening among male Latino immigrants in Houston, Texas

Abstract

Background: Male spouses and partners play an important role in determining a woman's willingness to participate in cervical cancer screening. However, the attitudes and behaviors by which they influence a woman's decision to undergo Pap testing remain poorly understood. Methods: A series of semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted in Spanish with 19 recent Latino immigrants in Houston, Texas. The interview format was designed to establish each individual's pattern of engagement with the United States healthcare system, assess baseline knowledge of cervical cancer screening and evaluate attitudes and patterns of communication with their female partners regarding health care. Interview questions were constructed using principles of the Theory of Reasoned Action. All interviews were conducted in Spanish. After translation, responses were coded and scored with the goal of identifying themes and key observations. Results: Most subjects reported few, if any, interactions with the healthcare system since their arrival in the United States. Although most participants reported being aware that women should be seen by their doctors regularly, fewer than half could clearly indicate the purpose of a Pap test or could state with certainty the last time their female partner had undergone screening. Multiple subjects expressed a general distrust of the health care system and concern for its costs. Approximately half of subjects reported that they accompanied their female partner to the health care provider's office and none of the participants reported that they were present in examination rooms at the time their partner underwent screening. Multiple participants endorsed that there may be some concerns within their community regarding women receiving frequent gynecologic care and distrust of the healthcare system. Almost all interviewed subjects stated that while they would allow their female partners to see male physicians, they also expressed the opinion that other men might be uncomfortable with this and that women would likely be more comfortable with female physicians.

Women and health providers’ perspectives on male support for cervical cancer screening in Gwanda district, Zimbabwe

“…Findings are consistent with previous studies conducted in Kenya [ 9 ], Ghana [ 8 ], South Africa [ 10 ] and among Latino immigrant [ 24 ] and Sub-Saharan African immigrant men in the United States [ 25 ] that similarly found that men had inadequate or inaccurate knowledge on cervical cancer. However, men have expressed willingness to learn more to enhance support of their partners’ health seeking behaviours for screening [ 6 , 8 , 26 ] as was also inferred in this study.…”

Knowledge, willingness to support, and reasons for not supporting wives for cervical cancer screening in rural Dire Dawa administration, eastern Ethiopia: A qualitative study

“…This study gives insight into the fact that husbands' support is such an important factor affecting reproductive health service utilization, including cervical cancer screening, which is also consistent with other studies (10,29). This is particularly prevalent in Africa, where most women's reproductive issues and utilization of reproductive services, including CCS, are under the approval of their husbands (11,25,26).Thus, interventions are needed to enhance knowledge of cervical cancer and screening and improve trust in the health care system among male spouses or partners, which is consistent with studies (7,18,28). Taking interventions to correct misconceptions about cervical cancer and screening is also a key strategy to achieving the global strategy, which sets 90-70-90 targets for elimination that must be met by 2030.…”