Young Black Women's Breast Cancer Knowledge and Beliefs: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study

Black women under the age of 50 have a 111% higher breast cancer mortality rate than their White counterparts. The breast cancer mortality disparities among young Black women may be due in part to the fact that they are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage, invasive breast cancer tumors. Psychosocial factors, such as lack of perceived risk for breast cancer, lack of awareness of breast cancer risk factors, and ambiguity about breast cancer screening guidelines are areas that are under investigated among young Black women. The purpose of this study was to identify young Black women's cancer beliefs and level of breast cancer risk knowledge.

A sequential explanatory mixed methods study was conducted using quantitative data from the Health Information Trends Survey 6 (HINTS 6) (n = 25) and qualitative data from interviews with young Black female college students (n = 13). The results of the quantitative data analysis were used to guide the development of the qualitative interview guide. Data regarding participants' cancer beliefs, cancer risk factor knowledge, perceived cancer risk, and ambiguity about cancer screening behaviors were analyzed.

The findings indicated young Black women have low perceived risk of developing cancer. Most participants were not aware of cancer recommendations that were targeted towards women under the age of 40. In addition, knowledge about lifestyle behavior risk factors for breast cancer was relatively low.

Our findings underscore the importance of developing, disseminating, and implementing breast cancer education interventions that are targeted towards young Black women.