Colorectal Cancer Screening and Chinese Americans: Efficacy of Lay Health Worker Outreach and Print Materials

Tung T Nguyen; Janice Y Tsoh; Kent Woo; Susan L Stewart; Gem M Le; Adam Burke; Ginny Gildengorin; Rena J Pasick; Jun Wang; Elaine Chan; Lei-Chun Fung; Jane Jih; Stephen J McPhee

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2016.10.003

Colorectal Cancer Screening and Chinese Americans: Efficacy of Lay Health Worker Outreach and Print Materials

Am J Prev Med. 2017 Mar;52(3):e67-e76. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.10.003. Epub 2016 Dec 13.

Authors

Tung T Nguyen¹, Janice Y Tsoh², Kent Woo³, Susan L Stewart⁴, Gem M Le⁵, Adam Burke⁶, Ginny Gildengorin⁷, Rena J Pasick⁵, Jun Wang⁸, Elaine Chan⁹, Lei-Chun Fung¹⁰, Jane Jih⁵, Stephen J McPhee⁵

Affiliations

¹ Asian American Research Center on Health, San Francisco, California; Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Electronic address: tung.nguyen@ucsf.edu.
² Asian American Research Center on Health, San Francisco, California; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
³ Asian American Research Center on Health, San Francisco, California; NICOS Chinese Health Coalition, San Francisco, California.
⁴ Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.
⁵ Asian American Research Center on Health, San Francisco, California; Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
⁶ Asian American Research Center on Health, San Francisco, California; Department of Health Education, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California.
⁷ Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
⁸ Asian American Research Center on Health, San Francisco, California; The American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, San Francisco, California.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California; NICOS Chinese Health Coalition, San Francisco, California.
¹⁰ Asian American Research Center on Health, San Francisco, California; Chinatown Public Health Center, Department of Public Health, San Francisco, California.

Abstract

Introduction: Chinese Americans have low colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates. Evidence-based interventions to increase CRC screening in this population are lacking. This study aims to compare the efficacy of two interventions in increasing CRC screening among Chinese Americans.

Design: Cluster randomized comparative trial.

Setting/participants: From 2010 to 2014, a community-academic team conducted this study in San Francisco, CA with Chinese Americans aged 50-75 years who spoke English, Cantonese, or Mandarin.

Intervention: Lay health worker (LHW) intervention plus in-language brochure (LHW+Print) versus brochure (Print). LHWs in the LHW+Print arm were trained to teach participants about CRC in two small group sessions and two telephone calls.

Main outcome measures: Change in self-reports of ever having had CRC screening and being up to date for CRC screening from baseline to 6 months post-intervention. Statistical analysis was performed from 2014 to 2015.

Results: This study recruited 58 LHWs, who in turn recruited 725 participants. The average age of the participants was 62.2 years, with 81.1% women and 99.4% foreign born. Knowledge increase was significant (p<0.002) for nine measures in the LHW+Print group and six in the Print group. Both groups had increases in having ever been screened for CRC (LHW+Print, 73.9%-88.3%, p<0.0001; Print, 72.3%-79.5%, p=0.0003) and being up to date for CRC screening (LHW+Print, 60.0%-78.1%, p<0.0001; Print, 58.1%-64.1%, p=0.0003). In multivariable analyses, the intervention OR for LHW+Print versus Print was 1.94 (95% CI=1.34, 2.79) for ever screening and 2.02 (95% CI=1.40, 2.90) for being up to date.

Conclusions: Both in-language print materials and LHW outreach plus print materials increased CRC screening among Chinese Americans. The combination of LHW+Print was more effective than Print alone. These findings can guide clinicians and policymakers in choosing appropriate interventions to increase CRC screening among Chinese American immigrants.

Trial registration: This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT00947206.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Aged
Asian
Colorectal Neoplasms / diagnosis*
Early Detection of Cancer / methods*
Female
Health Education / methods*
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health Promotion
Humans
Male
Mass Screening / methods*
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Pamphlets
San Francisco

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT00947206

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Associated data

Grants and funding