Colorectal Cancer Screening among Asian Americans

Hyenam Hwang

doi:10.7314/apjcp.2013.14.7.4025

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer for all US populations including Asian Americans. CRC screening has considerable benefits to prevent CRC and reduce mortality. The purpose of this article was to review the published literature on rates of colorectal cancer screening and factors associated with colorectal cancer screening practice among Asian Americans. Through searching electronic reference databases from 2000 to 2013, 30 articles were found on Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans. Asian Americans had significantly low rates for CRC screening; Korean Americans reported the lowest rates, while higher screening rates were found among Japanese Americans. Older age, longer length of stay in the US, and having a physician's recommendation were the most common facilitators to receiving screening. The common inhibiting factors were financial issues, employment status, and worries/fears about the procedure. Despite a number of Asian Americans being vulnerable to CRC, individual Asian subgroups were underserved with CRC screening and intervention. Further studies should focus on each individual Asian subgroup and culturally proficient CRC screening intervention programs should be developed for each.

Highlights

Asian Americans represent a considerable minority population and are one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States (US) (Hoeffel et al, 2012)
Asian Americans had significantly low ratesfor Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening; Korean Americans reported the lowest rates, while higher screening rates were found among Japanese Americans
Despite a number of Asian Americans being vulnerable to CRC, individual Asian subgroups were underserved with CRC screening and intervention

Summary

Introduction

Asian Americans represent a considerable minority population and are one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States (US) (Hoeffel et al, 2012). Asian Americans represent any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent (Hoeffel et al, 2012). The demographics of Asian Americans define a heterogeneous group with multiple ethnic subgroups (Sadler et al, 2003), but the diversity of each subgroup is often disregarded in national data considering ‘Asians’ or ‘Asian Americans.’. Cancer is identified as the second leading cause of death among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2013]. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of most commonly diagnosed cancers for all US populations including Asian Americans and is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths (CDC, 2013)

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