Abstract B09: Acculturation, behavioral factors, and family history of breast cancer among Mexican and Mexican-American women

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Incidence rates for breast cancer are higher among Mexican-American (MA) women in the US than women living in Mexico. Studies have shown higher prevalence of breast cancer risk factors in higher vs. lower acculturated Hispanic/Latina women in the US. We compared the prevalence for behavioral risk factors and family history of breast cancer by level of acculturation and country of residence in women of Mexican descent. Methods: Data were collected from 1,201 recently diagnosed breast cancer patients living in Mexico (n=581) and MAs in the US (n=620). MA participants were categorized into three acculturation groups (Spanish dominant, bilingual and English dominant) according to responses to an 8-item language acculturation scale, while women living in Mexico were used as the reference group. Prevalence of behavioral risk factors and family history of breast cancer were compared among the acculturation groups adjusting for age at diagnosis and education level. Results: In the final adjusted models, bilingual and English-dominant MAs were significantly more likely to have a body mass index > 30 kg/m2, consume more than one alcoholic beverage a week, and report having a family history of breast cancer when compared to women living in Mexico. All three US acculturation groups were significantly more likely to have low total energy expenditure (<533 kcal/day) than women in Mexico. English-dominant women were significantly less likely to smoke cigarettes than the Mexican comparison group. Conclusions: Our findings on acculturation and distributions of behavioral risk factors and family history of breast cancer add to the growing body of evidence suggesting acculturation has both positive and negative impacts on health behavior in Hispanic/Latino populations living in the US. Interventions and public health policies may benefit from considering these relationships when targeting health programs and campaigns to Mexican-American and Mexican women. Citation Format: Jesse Nodora, Renee Cooper, Maria Elena Martinez, Gregory Talavera, Patricia Thompson, Ian Komenaka, Melissa Bondy, Abenaa Brewster, Adrian Daneri-Navarro, Maria Mercedes Meza-Montenegro, Luis Enrique Gutierrez-Millan. Acculturation, behavioral factors, and family history of breast cancer among Mexican and Mexican-American women. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Seventh AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 9-12, 2014; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2015;24(10 Suppl):Abstract nr B09.