Korean Immigrant Women’s Meanings of Breast, Breast Cancer, and Breast Cancer Screenings

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Purpose. Koreans are one of the fastest growing Asian populations in the U.S. since 1960s. In Korean immigrant
women (KIW), breast cancer was reported as the most frequently diagnosed cancer. However, their screening
rates for breast cancer are lower than national guidelines; it is assumed that underlying cultural schemas
of breast, breast cancer, and its screening modalities exist and need to be studied. This study was aimed to
investigate cultural meanings of breast, breast cancer, and breast cancer screenings in KIW.
Methods. Using cultural models theory from cognitive anthropology, naturalistic qualitative methodology was
utilized. Three focus group interviews with fifteen KIW were conducted. Thematic analysis with constant
comparison technique was performed eliciting units of meaning, categories, and themes.
Results. The cultural schema of the meaning of breast is “mother who is breast-feeding her baby,” with two
themes of “balance in size,” and “shyness.” Regarding breast cancer, three themes, i.e., “indifference,”
“fear,” and “uncertainty” are emerged. “Lack of information about screening modalities” is the overarching
schema with reference to breast cancer screenings.
Conclusions. The findings of this study demonstrate unique cultural models of KIW related to breast cancer and
its screenings, which are critical to understand and penetrate their barriers to breast cancer screening.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 "U.S. Census 2000" 2000

2 "Racial/ ethnic patterns of cancer in the United States 1988-1992." National Cancer Institute 1996

3 "Perceived risk and help-seeking behavior for breast cancer" 23 (23): 258-267, 2000

4 "Mammography utilization and related attitudes among Korean-American women" 27 (27): 89-107, 1998

5 "Mammography and clinical breast examination among Korean American women in two California counties" 27 (27): 144-151, 1998

6 "Korean womens breast cancer experience" 24 (24): 751-771, 2002

7 "Korean Americans" Sage 89-101, 1995

8 "How important is cost as a barrier to use? Am JPublic Health" 50-55, 1994

9 "Ethnicity and birth-place in relation to tumor size and stage in Asian American women with breast cancer" 89 (89): 1248-1252, 1999

10 "Cultural compe-tence in qualitative interview methods with Asian Americans.Unpublished manuscript" Universtiy of Pennsylvania 2004

11 "Breast cancer screening knowledge, attitudes, and practices among Korean American women" 27 (27): 1585-1591, 2000

12 "Breast and cervical cancer screening" AMC Cancer Research Center 1995

13 "American Cancer Society guidelines for the early detection of cancer,2006." 56 (56): 11-25, 2006

14 "A cognitive theory of cultural meaning" Cambridge University Press 1997

15 ". The discovery of groundedtheory Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago" 1967

16 ". Mammography utilization in the poor andmedically underserved. Cancer" 1478-1482, 1993

17 ". Human motives and cultur-al models. New York" 1992

18 ". Focus groups as qualitative research. Thousands Oaks" 1988

19 ". Evaluation of an intervention to increase mammogra-phy screening in Los Angeles. Prev Med" 83-90, 1994

20 ". Cultural models in language and thought. New York" Cambridge University Press. 1987

21 ". Changes in the use of screening mammography" 62-67, 1994

22 ". Barriers to screening among participants of a media-promoted breast cancer screening pro-ject. Cancer Detect Prev" 367-377, 1993