Religiosity and cancer screening

Churches have been suggested as avenues to reach African-American populatio ns with messages about health because of their strong participation in chur ch activities. Membership in several religious denominations has been assoc iated with healthy lifestyle practices that are associated with lower cance r-incidence rates and better coping strategies among cancer patients. Among African-American women, however, belief in God as their doctor might preem pt seeking treatment for cancer. The goal of the present study was to exami ne the influence of church participation and religious beliefs on the utili zation of breast and cervical cancer screening among low-income, predominan tly African-American women. A cohort consisting of 290 women was surveyed a t baseline and one year later to determine the association between screenin g rates in the past year and measures of religiosity. The majority of women were members of a church (88%), with fairly regular church attendance (51% reported weekly attendance), and strong beliefs regarding God's influence on their health (e.g. 88% agreed that God was their doctor). Church attenda nce was the only religious variable related to screening frequency in univa riate analyses, with those reporting attending church 1-3 times per month m ore likely to receive mammography screening (p = .013). Churches can provid e avenues to reach African-American women about cancer screening; strong re ligious beliefs do not, however, appear to keep women from receiving regula r screening exams.