Associations Between Religion-Related Factors and Cervical Cancer Screening Among Muslims in Greater Chicago

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to assess rates of Papanicolaou (Pap) testing and associations between religion-related factors and these rates among a racially and ethnically diverse sample of American Muslim women. Materials and Methods A community-based participatory research design was used in partnering with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago to recruit Muslim women attending mosque and community events. These participants self-administered surveys incorporating measures of fatalism, religiosity, perceived discrimination, Islamic modesty, and a marker of Pap test use. Results A total of 254 survey respondents were collected with nearly equal numbers of Arabs, South Asians, and African American respondents. Of these respondents, 84% had obtained a Pap test in their lifetime, with individuals who interpret disease as a manifestation of God’s punishment having a lower odds of having had Pap testing after controlling for sociodemographic factors (odds ratio [OR] = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.77–1.0). In multivariate models, living in the United States for more than 20 years (OR = 4.7, 95% CI = 1.4–16) and having a primary care physician (OR = 7.7, 95% CI = 2.5–23.4) were positive predictors of having had a Pap test. Ethnicity, fatalistic beliefs, perceived discrimination, and modesty levels were not significantly associated with Pap testing rates. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess Pap testing behaviors among a diverse sample of American Muslim women and to observe that negative religious coping (e.g., viewing health problems as a punishment from God) is associated with a lower odds of obtaining a Pap test. The relationship between religious coping and cancer screening behaviors deserves further study so that religious values can be appropriately addressed through cancer screening programs.

Exploring the acceptability of human papillomavirus self-sampling among Muslim immigrant women

“…Unlike what has been reported in the literature,32–40 a high proportion of women (78%) in our pilot study reported ever having a Pap test. However, this finding should be interpreted with caution as it was based on self-report, which has been shown to not be as reliable and accurate a method as objective measures in determining screening rates due to recall, acquiescence, and social desirability biases 41–43.…”

Attitudes and factors affecting acceptability of self-administered cervicovaginal sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) genotyping as an alternative to Pap testing among multiethnic Malaysian women

“…This is in agreement with previous findings,39 40 which also reported that cultural or religious beliefs were not a barrier to screening participation. Although in agreement with these findings, Padela et al 41 noted that there was a fatalistic attitude related to negative religious coping, whereby individuals felt that health issues were a penance from God, which resulted in decreased willingness to undergo Pap testing. Therefore, while religious beliefs did not appear to influence acceptability of self-sampling, problems related to fear of the diagnosis should still be addressed when trying to implement self-administered cervicovaginal sampling.…”

Lack of Understanding of Cervical Cancer and Screening Is the Leading Barrier to Screening Uptake in Women at Midlife in Bangladesh: Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

“…We hypothesized that cultural and religious beliefs, as well as access to screening facilities, might be operating as barriers to CCa screening uptake, as reported in other countries [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. To address this issue, we asked a separate question about possible reasons for not attending for CCa screening.The minimal influence of cultural and religious beliefs on the decision to be screened is a positive finding because these factors can be challenging to modify.…”