The effects of health-specific religiousness on mammography adherence of older African-American women in an urban setting

The risk of breast cancer increases as a woman ages with an estimated 1 of 8 women in the United States being diagnosed at some time during her life. African American women have a higher incidence of advanced stage disease at diagnosis and a lower 5-year survival rate than white women. This higher mortality rate has been linked to diagnoses at a later stage, tumors that are more aggressive and less responsive to treatment, and various social and demographic factors that may be related to poorer knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to early detection. These factors are notable as breast cancer incidence increases with age, while regular adherence with mammography screening decreases with age. A social factor that may be related to early regular screening mammography is religiousness. Religion may be a particularly important factor related to health behaviors in low-income African American women because of the strength of these beliefs and the reliance on religion for help and support throughout various life events.; The purpose of this study was to determine if the factors of Health-Specific Religiousness, various health beliefs, and particular demographics were significantly related to mammography screening for older, low-income, African American women in an urban setting. A cross-sectional design was implemented for this sample of 186 African American women.; Results indicated that self-efficacy was directly related to Wagle Health-Specific Religiousness (WHSR), and WHSR was predictive of mammography adherence. Further, the health beliefs of susceptibility, barriers, and fear were positively related to fear, with low levels of fear as compared to high levels of fear predictive of mammography adherence.; Implications for education and practice include religious assessment in the context of general health evaluation. Older African American women should be targeted for information relative to mammography adherence within the framework of general health screenings. Nurses should also consider the adaptation of interventions to appropriate levels of intention for mammography. Future research should include replication of this type of study using the WHSR scale in different populations with the consideration of potential mediators and moderators.