Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States and the sixth leading cause of death overall.
1 The American Cancer Society recommends that beginning at age 50, a prostate-specific antigen blood test (PSA) and digital rectal examination (DRE) should be offered to men annually.
2 Although it remains controversial,
3 due to insufficient evidence to recommend for or against screening,
4,5 screening appears to be effective in reducing mortality from PCa, especially if screening and treatment are freely available to all patients.
6In Asian countries, the reported incidence rate and its subsequent mortality have been on the rise.
7 For example, a 118% increase has been reported among Singaporean Chinese men.
7 The PCa incidence and mortality rates are 104.2/100,000 and 11.8/100,000, respectively, among Asian men in the United States.
8 Compared with Asian men in their native countries, Asian American men have increased PCa rates.
9 With acculturation, many Asian Americans may be losing their cultural protective factors and acquiring high-risk ones. Although studies have examined the relationship between risk factors and PCa, there are few PCa screening studies among Asian American men or its subgroups to examine factors associated with PCa screening. The available data suggest that the uptake of PCa screening is very low in Asian American men, with more than three-quarters (78%) reporting never-screened.
10 As found in other cancer prevention studies for Asian Americans, the major limitation in understanding the PCa prevention includes a lack of sufficient data from representative samples. Some studies adopted data from national surveys that did not include Asian American native speakers, leading to a biased estimate of cancer screening rates among this population.
11Ma et al developed a theoretical model, called the Sociocultural Health Behavior Model, to examine people’s health behavior for cancer screening practice ()
12 The model was developed by incorporating the major constructs of the Health Belief Model,
13 social cognitive theory,
14 the behavioral model, and access to medical care.
15 The proposed theoretical model also acknowledges that the complexity and interaction of multiple factors play a major role in people’s health-seeking behaviors. The Sociocultural Health Behavior Model stresses the interrelationships among individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors. This model examines relationships between individual health behavior and interaction with the environment. The interactions and multiple levels of influence of individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors underlying the health behavior are emphasized in an ecological model. The model has been successfully used to explain hepatitis B screening behavior among Chinese Americans.
12 illustrates how the Sociocultural Health Behavior Model explains health behavior. In addition to common theoretical components, this model includes cultural factors as a primary component. The model incorporates the interdependence of predisposing, enabling, need, family/social support, environmental health system, and cultural factors, all of which contribute to a particular health behavior or outcome. A number of variables can be included under cultural factors, including notions of fatalism, birth in the United States, years lived in the United States, English fluency, use of native language at home, frequency of eating native food, use of media sources in native language, and attendance at native social events.
Structural equation modeling has been used in studies related to health problems, including motivation and risk for prostate cancer screening.
16–20 Structural equation modeling offers some advantages in examination of factors in the cultural and ecological approaches.
21 The structure of relationships among a set of factors can be tested;
22 there is increased statistical control over random measurement error and measurement biases
21; and examination of interrelated constructs can occur without the disadvantages of a multivariate analysis of covariance approach.
23 Because screening behavior is influenced by multiple factors, there is a need to identify these interrelationships and pathways among these factors. Often, the role of cultural factors is rarely included in health behavior analysis.
The purpose of this study was to validate the proposed Sociocultural Health Behavior Model by using a structural equation analysis to determine the direction and magnitude of the interdependence of the proposed components of the model in relation to the health behavior related to PCa screening among Chinese American men. Chinese is the largest ethnic group among Asian Americans, representing 24%,
24 and yet there is lack of studies with regard to their behavior in PCa screening. It is hoped that the study will provide some explicit evidence in developing culturally and linguistically appropriate PCa intervention programs in Chinese American and other Asian American communities.