• Jesse N Nodora, Linda Gallo, Renee Cooper, Betsy C Wertheim, Loki Natarajan, Patricia A Thompson, Ian K Komenaka, Abenaa Brewster, Melissa Bondy, Adrian Daneri-Navarro, María Mercedes Meza-Montenegro, Luis Enrique Gutierrez-Millan, and María Elena Martínez.
• 1 Moores University of California San Diego Cancer Center, University of California , San Diego, La Jolla, California.
• J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Jun 1; 23 (6): 532-40.

BackgroundWe compared the distribution of breast cancer reproductive and hormonal risk factors by level of acculturation and country of residence in women of Mexican descent.MethodsTo compare the distribution of breast cancer reproductive and hormonal risk factors by level of acculturation and country of residence in women of Mexican descent, taking into account level of education, we analyzed data on 581 Mexican and 620 Mexican American (MA) women with a history of invasive breast cancer from the Ella Binational Breast Cancer Study. An eight-item language-based acculturation measure was used to classify MA women. Multivariate logistic regression was used to test associations between language acculturation, country of residence, and reproductive and hormonal risk factors.ResultsAfter adjustment for age and education, compared to women residing in Mexico, English-dominant MAs were significantly more likely to have an earlier age at menarche (<12 years; odds ratio [OR]=2.08; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30-3.34), less likely to have a late age at first birth (≥30 years; OR=0.49; 95% CI, 0.25-0.97), and less likely to ever breastfeed (OR=0.13; 95% CI, 0.08-0.21).ConclusionsDifferences in reproductive and hormonal risk profile according to language acculturation and country of residence are evident; some of these were explained by education. Results support continued efforts to educate Mexican and MA women on screening and early detection of breast cancer along with promotion of modifiable factors, such as breastfeeding.

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