African American Multi-construct Survey of Cultural Attitudes Relevant to Cancer

描述(由申请者提供)：2010年健康人的一个主要目标是消除健康差距。医学研究所和国家癌症研究所建议将教育材料和干预措施的文化适当性作为减少差异的一项战略。除了少数例外，非洲裔美国人男性和女性的发病率和死亡率高于白人，5年生存率低于白人，这是导致癌症死亡的主要原因。研究人员已经认识到，行为，包括那些与癌症预防和控制相关的行为，发生在社会背景下。因此，了解哪些社会和文化结构与癌症筛查相关以及如何相关似乎是合适的。对行为科学和社会科学概念的测量要求我们能够以合理的精确度区分结构以及结构的维度。对当前文献的回顾强调了与文化结构测量有关的问题，包括操作结构的策略，测量的多样性，当前测量的心理测量学特性，以及研究结构的困难，以及它们的相关维度同时而不是单独地研究。这种情况限制了我们确定文化态度和规范对癌症预防和控制活动的相对重要性的能力。为了进一步了解这一领域，重要的是要有公认的已确定变量的衡量标准，以便能够容易地比较各种研究的工作。我们建议开发一种社会文化态度的衡量标准，以挖掘与非裔美国人社区癌症筛查行为相关的文化价值观。结直肠癌(CRC)是非裔美国人男性和女性中第三常见的癌症，并有一套权威的筛查指南；因此，我们选择结直肠癌筛查作为我们的重点。非裔美国人文化态度多结构调查将提供一种易于管理的文化变量测量方法。我们将使用项目反应理论(IRT)来同时开发一种能够快速、准确地评估多种文化结构的工具的长、短和计算机适应版本。在这个项目的最后，我们将提供关于文化结构的计算机适应测试的数据，以及它们与非裔美国人结直肠癌筛查行为的相关性。公共卫生相关性：这项研究将产生一套有效和可靠的核心调查项目，可以改善癌症研究中的文化测量，促进比较，并最大限度地减少研究项目之间的重复工作。这项研究还提供了关于文化结构与结直肠癌筛查态度和行为之间的关系的数据。这些信息将用于制定更有效地针对非裔美国人社区的健康教育和促进材料和干预措施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A major goal of Healthy People 2010 is the elimination of health disparities. The Institute of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute have suggested cultural appropriateness of education materials and interventions as one strategy to reduce disparities. With few exceptions, rates of incidence and mortality are higher and 5-year survival lower among African American men and women than Whites for the leading causes of cancer death. Researchers have recognized that behavior, including those relevant to cancer prevention and control, occurs in a social context. Thus, an understanding of which social and cultural constructs are related to cancer screening and how seems appropriate. Measurement of behavioral and social science constructs requires that we be able to make distinctions among constructs, as well as dimensions of constructs with reasonable accuracy. A review of the current literature highlights concerns related to the measurement of cultural constructs, including strategies for operationalizing constructs, the variety of measures, psychometric properties of current measures, and difficulties studying constructs, and their relevant dimensions simultaneously rather than individually. This state of affairs limits our ability to determine the relative importance of cultural attitudes and norms for cancer prevention and control activities. To further knowledge in this area it is important that commonly accepted measures of the identified variables exist so that work from various studies can be easily compared. We propose to develop a measure of socio-cultural attitudes that taps the cultural values linked to cancer screening behaviors in the African American community. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer among African American men and women and has an authoritative set of screening guidelines; thus, we have selected colorectal cancer screening as our focus. The African American Multi-Construct Survey of Cultural Attitudes will provide an easily administered measure of cultural variables. We will use item response theory (IRT) to simultaneously development long, short and computer-adapted versions of an instrument capable of allowing quick, accurate assessment of multiple cultural constructs. At the end of this project, we will provide data on the computer adapted test of cultural constructs and their relevance to colorectal cancer screening behaviors among African Americans. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This study will yield a core set of valid and reliable survey items that can improve the measurement of culture in cancer research, facilitate comparisons and minimize the redundancy of effort across research projects. This study also provides data on the relationship between cultural constructs and CRC cancer screening attitudes and behaviors. This information will be used in developing health education and promotion materials and interventions that more effectively target the African American community.