Pap smear screening among Asian Pacific Islander women in a multisite community-based cancer screening program

This study assessed screening completion rates (SCR) and sociodemographic factors associated with Pap test screening among previously nonadherent, foreign-born Asian Pacific Islander (API) women across four sites participating in a community-based cancer screening program called ENCOREplus. At intake, 926 out of 1,140 women were nonadherent to recommended Pap test screening guidelines. Most participants were age 51 and older, had a high school education or higher, had been in the U.S. less than a decade, had annual household incomes less than $10,000, and were uninsured. Women with limited resources were more likely to get a Pap test after participating in ENCOREplus. Women from the Glendale site were almost 18 times more likely to get a Pap test than API women in other sites. Over half of the women in Glendale reported that help getting low cost Pap tests and having translators available were instrumental in completing screening.