American journal of preventive medicine
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This study uses quantitative and qualitative information to examine the relationships between predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors from a health education planning model and levels of mammography screening, clinical breast exam (CBE), and breast self-exam (BSE) among African-American women. We analyzed data from a random sample household survey of African-American women in a Florida community (n = 281) and three age-homogenous focus groups from the same population. Two thirds of the random sample and all of the focus group participants had less than a high school education and household incomes below $10,000. ⋯ In addition, knowing mammography and BSE guidelines and having been taught BSE in a physician's office were significant predictors of breast-screening behavior for both low- and moderate-income women. Focus-group participants unanimously reported a willingness to listen to physician instructions regarding breast screening and to receive a mammogram if their physician recommended one. Both survey and focus group results emphasize the particular importance of physicians in promoting breast screening among African-American women regardless of their income.
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This study examined exposure to AIDS information from mass media and interpersonal communication among a nonprobability sample of Hispanic and Anglo lower middle-class adolescents. Subjects were drawn predominantly from community health clinics, word of mouth recruiting, public service announcements, churches, schools, and health fairs in San Diego County. Both Hispanic (n = 220) and Anglo (n = 159) youths reported substantial exposure to information about AIDS from both mass media and interpersonal communication. ⋯ Anglo youths had greater exposure to information about AIDS and condoms regardless of the medium of communication, while Hispanic adolescents had greater exposure to information on risks of IV drug use. Of the three main types of mass media, print and radio provided the most exposure to AIDS information. It is important for preventive medicine practitioners to exploit these differences in communication patterns when planning preventive intervention strategies that target specific adolescent populations.
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Cigarette smoking remains the most important preventable cause of death in the United States, and the burden is especially great for African Americans. A promising approach to better understanding smoking behavior involves the application of a stages-of-change model. The purpose of this study was to analyze the smoking behavior of a population-based sample of African Americans in two rural southern counties using this model. ⋯ This study provides support for applying a stages-of-change model to African Americans who smoke. Many of the predictors of the stage of change are the same as those found in other populations. In addition, finding an association between stages and both physician visits and believing stopping smoking can improve health has important implications for providing smoking cessation services in health care settings.
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To describe the clinical causes of fetal death in black women, we performed a record review of the primary causes of fetal deaths (n = 315, > or = 500 g or > or = 24 weeks' gestation) occurring over an 11-year period in a population of 26,852 black women who delivered at the Chicago Lying-in Hospital, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, IL. The over-all fetal death rate (FDR) per 1,000 total births was 11.7, consistent with U. S. vital statistics data for blacks. ⋯ Furthermore, hypertension in pregnancy accounted for 15% of the excess fetal mortality in our population of urban black women as compared to the population of Canadian white women. Health care providers should be aware of the risk of fetal death in hypertensive, innercity, U. S. black women.
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Comparative Study
The validity of self-reported hypertension and correlates of hypertension awareness among blacks and whites within the stroke belt.
Hypertension surveillance activities increasingly are relying on information obtained by self-report. However, limited information is available concerning the validity of such data, especially among populations residing within the stroke belt. We used interview information and blood pressure measurements from the South Carolina Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Project to determine the validity of self-reported hypertension and the correlates of hypertension awareness among 2,210 whites and 704 blacks who participated in the program in 1987. ⋯ Among hypertensive blacks, overweight persons were substantially more likely than nonoverweight persons to be aware of their hypertension (odds ratio [OR] = 4.6, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.9, 10.7 in black women and OR = 4.4, 95% CI = 1.0, 17.9 in black men). The validity of self-reported hypertension was relatively high in all race-sex groups. There is a need to increase hypertension awareness among hypertensive blacks who are not overweight.