Assessment of Hepatitis B Virus Screening Behaviors among Asian-Americans through the Lens of Social Cognitive Theory

Asian-Americans suffer from significant liver cancer disparity caused by chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Understanding psychosocial predictors of HBV screening is critical to designing effective interventions.

Chinese-, Korean-, and Vietnamese-Americans in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan region (N=877) were recruited from community-based organizations. Applying the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), three main theoretical constructs (knowledge, outcome expectancy, and self-efficacy) were tested. Descriptive analyses using Chi-square and ANOVA and multivariate logistic regression models were conducted.

About 47% of participants reported ever having screening for HBV. Vietnamese-Americans had the lowest HBV screening rate (39%), followed by Korean-Americans (46%) and Chinese-Americans (55%). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed significant effects of HBV-related knowledge on screening in all three groups, whereas self-efficacy had significant effects in the Chinese and Korean subgroups, but not Vietnamese. HBV outcome expectancy had no effect on the screening outcome in any of the groups. Additionally, consistent in all three groups, those who had lived in the United States longer were less likely to have screening.

HBV screening rates in Asian Americans remain low; targeted interventions need to consider the differences across ethnic subgroups and address the psychosocial risk factors.