Barriers to breast and cervical cancer screening among migrant and seasonal farmworker women in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Abstract
Objective. To describe barriers to breast and cervical cancer screening reported by farmworker women and to determine if the barriers collected from a structured survey were similar to those reported during a set of focus groups. Design. A secondary analysis of two data sets collected during the formative evaluation phase of the pilot testing of a breast and cervical cancer education program titled "Cultivando la Salud". The data sets included transcripts derived from a set of focus groups and data gathered from 200 women participating in a structured survey. The analyzed data identified barriers to mammography and Pap test screening and a comparison of the two methods occurred. Setting. The data collection took place in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, which includes Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy counties. Subjects. The study subjects were Hispanic farmworker women age 50 and older who participated in a set of five groups, or answered the structured survey. Results. A comparison of data derived from focus groups and surveys revealed that cost, desidia (procrastination), embarrassment, and a lack of transportation were the four common barriers to screening across both methods. This analysis revealed that the quantitative method elicited more barrier responses than the qualitative method, but the quantitative results provided more insight into the farmworker population. By use of methods triangulation, a more complete picture of the population and their barriers was revealed. Conclusions. The comparison demonstrated that both methods are crucial to the data collection process because both reveal barriers not identified by one method alone. This data collection process allows us to gather as much information as possible to assist in the development of health education messages specific to the farmworker population.
Subject Area
Public health
Recommended Citation
Saavedra-Embesi, Monica, "Barriers to breast and cervical cancer screening among migrant and seasonal farmworker women in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas" (2008). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI1450308.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI1450308