 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Ola Stacey Rostant, BS, Measurement and Quantitative Methods, Michigan State University, 913 Cherry Lane Apt. L, East Lansing, MI 48823, 517-355-7967, rostanto@msu.edu, Karen Patricia Williams, PhD, Obsterics Gynecology & Reproductive Biology, Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, A 224 W. Fee Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, and Vanessa B. Sheppard, PhD, Oncology, Lombardi Cancer Center, Cancer Control Program, Georgetown University Medical Center, 2233 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20007.
Background
There is a large body of research that has examined the relationship between emotional health and breast cancer. Studies have consistently shown that patients with a cancer diagnosis experience psychological distress in the form of anxiety and depression. Even with this body of work, there is still a paucity of empirical studies that have focused specifically on African American women. This is of great concern since African American women have higher mortality rates for breast cancer than White women. In order to shed light on this area, our study will examine the emotional health of African American women with breast cancer, based on when they were diagnosed across age and SES.
Methods
This analytical cross-sectional study will utilize the 2000 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). An emotional health scale was created based on the conditions module of the adult data set in the NHIS. This scale is comprised of six variables (1) sadness, (2) nervousness, (3) restlessness, (4) hopelessness, (5) effort and (6) worthlessness. The adult sample of the NHIS contained 2880 African American women ages 18-65. The analysis of this data will employ regression and non-parametric techniques. The aims of this study are to (1) examine the relationship between emotional health status and breast cancer diagnosis and (2)examine whether the age at which a diagnosis occurs can predict levels of emotional health across marital status and SES.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Breast Cancer, African American
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.