Objective To conduct a cancer education intervention with racially diverse communities in South Carolina. Methods The study was conducted at eight different sites in six counties in SC. The intervention included a 3-hour general cancer knowledge and 30-minute prostate cancer knowledge component. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered. Maximum scores were 31, 10 and 5 for the general cancer knowledge, prostate cancer knowledge and perceived self-efficacy in patient-physician interaction instruments, respectively. Analyses were completed using SPSS 16.0, SAS 9.1.3, and R v2.6.1. Results The study sample consisted of 164 predominantly African American participants. Most of the participants who reported age were 50+ years (62.5%). Among those who reported income, 46.1% had an annual household income < $40,000. The mean general cancer knowledge pre-test score was 26.2 (standard deviation (SD) 3.7) with a mean post-intervention increase of 2.15 points (p<0.01). The mean pre-test prostate cancer knowledge score was 7.3 (SD 2.0) with a post-intervention increase of 0.48 points (p<0.01). Perceived self-efficacy in patient-physician interaction scores had a ceiling effect. Conclusions General cancer knowledge and prostate cancer knowledge scores increased following the intervention. Practice Implications The intervention was successful in the short-term. It could be continued by community members.

Objective: Cancer mortality rates for African Americans in South Carolina are among the highest in the nation. Lack of knowledge likely contributes to cancer disparities. To address this issue, we conducted a community based cancer education intervention to improve cancer knowledge among African American and other minority communities in South Carolina. Methods: The study was conducted at eight different sites in six counties in South Carolina. The intervention consisted of a 3.5-hour evidence-based cancer education program in which a 3-hour component focused on general cancer knowledge and a 30-minute component focused on prostate cancer knowledge. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered immediately before and after the intervention was delivered at each site. The maximum score for the 31-item cancer knowledge instrument was 31. Prostate cancer knowledge was assessed using a 10-item instrument, with a maximum score of 10. Perceived self-efficacy in patient-physician communication about cancer was measured by a 5-item scale with a maximum score of 5. We hypothesized that the intervention would result in increases in general cancer knowledge, prostate cancer knowledge, and perceived self-efficacy in patient-physician interaction. Results: The study sample consisted of 164 predominantly African American participants. One-hundred and twenty-five (78.6%) of the 159 participants who provided data on race were African American, 19 (12.0%) were Caucasian and 15 (9.4%) were Native American. The majority of the 160 participants who provided data on age were ages 50+ years (62.5%). The majority of the 154 participants who reported their income had an annual household income &gt; = $40,000 (53.8%). The general cancer knowledge pre-test score had a mean of 26.2 with a standard deviation (SD) of 3.7 and a mean post-intervention increase of 2.04 points (p&lt;0.01). The mean pre-test prostate cancer knowledge score was 7.3 (SD 2.0). The mean increase in prostate cancer knowledge was 0.48 points (p&lt;0.01). Due to a ceiling effect, most sites showed little increase in perceived self-efficacy in patient-physician interaction (PEPPI). The exception was the Native American site, which had a larger increase in each PEPPI question from pre-test to post-test than the other sites. Conclusions: General cancer knowledge scores and prostate cancer knowledge scores increased following the intervention. Future interventions could incorporate more intensive (i.e., repeated sessions) cancer education programs as well as an assessment of the impact of the interventions on the communication dynamics between patients and their health care providers. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):B24.