Cervical cancer screening practices among Latino women in Chicago

Previous studies have determined that Latino women, especially Mexican women, have the lowest rates of cancer-screening practices of any racial and ethnic group in the United States (L. S. Caplan, B. L. Wells, & S. Haynes, 1992; L. C. Harlan, A. B. Bernstein, & L. G. Kessler, 1991). The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify factors associated with irregular Papanicolaou (Pap) screening among Latino women. The convenience sample consisted of 111 Mexican and Puerto Rican women ages 40 and older, recruited through two inner-city clinics, located in two major Latino communities in Chicago. The women were interviewed face-to-face by trained bilingual interviewers, using a structured questionnaire. Mexican ethnicity and older age were found to be associated with irregular cervical cancer-screening practices. These results suggest that interventions need to be developed for educating Latino women about the purpose and importance of Pap test-screening practices. Further research is needed to examine other barriers that impede these women from using cervical cancer-screening services.