Race, immigrant status, and cancer among women in the United States

Research on the incidence of cancer among the immigrant population has tended to be of quite a limited scope. We investigate whether immigrant women in the US are less likely to have been recently diagnosed with cancer, and what factors might help to explain any differences identified. We estimate multivariate Logistic regression models to identify the determinants of a diagnosis within the last 3 years of any cancer, of breast cancer and of cervical cancer as well as the use of cancer screening by US women, using self-reported information on cancer diagnosis from consecutive waves of the US National Health Interview Survey over the years 1998-2007. Immigrant women of different ethnic groups are less likely to have been diagnosed with cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer compared to US-born women. The use of basic health services, including cancer screening, is also lower for immigrant women for each main ethnic group. More research is required to determine whether immigrants may face delays in timely diagnosis of cancer by health care professionals.