Angela Gonzales | Arizona State University (original) (raw)
Papers by Angela Gonzales
We Grow the Ivy": Cornell's Claim to Indigenous Dispossession
Native American and Indigenous Studies, Mar 1, 2021
Sowing the Seeds of Social Justice through Service-Learning with American Indian Tribal Partners
Practicing anthropology, Apr 1, 2017
As a form of community engagement pedagogy, service-learning aims to bridge theory with practice ... more As a form of community engagement pedagogy, service-learning aims to bridge theory with practice by combining learning goals and community service in ways that are mutually beneficial to students and community partners. However, if not done well, service-learning can have the opposite effect of reinforcing stereotypes, perpetuating social inequalities, and placing more of a burden on communities and organizations than providing a service. Based on the author's service-learning experience with community partners on the Hopi Reservation, this article considers some of the challenges and opportunities for developing meaningful and mutually beneficial service-learning projects with American Indian tribal partners.
Journal of Community Health, Sep 23, 2015
We evaluated whether delivering educational presentations on human papillomavirus (HPV) to Americ... more We evaluated whether delivering educational presentations on human papillomavirus (HPV) to American Indian mothers affected HPV vaccination rates in their adolescent daughters. In March-April 2012, we recruited Hopi mothers or female guardians with daughters aged 9-12 years for a cluster-randomized intervention study on the Hopi Reservation. Participants attended motherdaughter dinners featuring educational presentations for mothers on either HPV (intervention) or juvenile diabetes (control) and completed baseline surveys. Eleven months later, we surveyed mothers on their daughters' HPV vaccine uptake. We also reviewed aggregated immunization reports from the Indian Health Service to assess community-level HPV vaccination coverage from 2007-2013. Ninety-seven mother-daughter dyads participated; nine mothers reported that their daughters completed the three-dose HPV vaccination series before recruitment. Among the remaining mothers, 63% completed the follow-up survey. Adjusting for household income, the proportion of daughters completing vaccination within 11 months post-intervention was similar in the intervention and control groups (32% vs. 28%, adjusted RR=1.2,95%CI:0.6-2.3). Among unvaccinated daughters, those whose mothers received HPV education were more likely to initiate vaccination (50% vs. 27%, adjusted RR=2.6,95%CI:1.4-4.9) and complete three doses (adjusted RR=4.0,95%CI:1.2-13.1) than girls whose mothers received diabetes education. Community-level data showed that 80% of girls aged 13-17 years and 20% of girls aged 11-12 completed the vaccination series by 2013. HPV vaccine uptake in Hopi girls aged 13-17 years is significantly higher than the U.S. national average. Brief educational presentations on HPV delivered to American Indian mothers might increase HPV vaccination rates in daughters aged 9-12 years.
Journal of Community Health, Apr 5, 2016
Background CervixCheck, Manitoba's cervical cancer screening program, conducted a pilot study to ... more Background CervixCheck, Manitoba's cervical cancer screening program, conducted a pilot study to assess whether screening participation could be improved in unscreened women by offering a mailed self-sampling kit for human papillomavirus (hpv) testing instead of a Pap test. Methods In a prospective cohort study design, a sample of unscreened women (n = 1052) who had been sent an invitation letter from CervixCheck in the past but who did not respond were randomized to either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group received a mailed hpv self-sampling kit; the control group received no additional communication. Returned hpv self-sampling swabs were analyzed by a provincial laboratory. After 6 months, screening participation in the two study groups was compared using a logistic regression model adjusted for age and area of residence (urban or rural). Secondary outcomes included hpv positivity, specimen inadequacy, compliance with follow-up, and time to colposcopy. Results Screening participation was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (n = 51, 9.6%, vs. n = 13, 2.5%; odds ratio: 4.7; 95% confidence interval: 2.56 to 8.77). Geographic area of residence (urban or rural) and age were not statistically significant. Conclusions The study demonstrated that hpv self-sampling kits can enhance screening participation in unscreened non-responder women in the setting of an organized screening program. Next steps should include additional research to determine the best implementation strategy for hpv self-sampling in Manitoba.
The Federal Acknowledgment Process and the Legal (De)Construction of American Indian Tribal Identity
The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Oct 15, 2018
Background. High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) causes cervical cancer. In the United States, ... more Background. High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) causes cervical cancer. In the United States, approximately 40% of women aged 14-59 years from all racial and ethnic groups are infected with HPV, and prevalence typically declines with age. However, American Indian (AI) women are insufficiently sampled to permit a population-specific estimate of hrHPV prevalence. Methods. Vaginal swabs were self-collected by 698 AI women aged 21-65 years from a tribal community in the Great Plains. We estimated the population prevalence of hrHPV and identified predominant genotypes.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Mar 1, 2009
Background: A growing number of studies have suggested a link between social capital and health. ... more Background: A growing number of studies have suggested a link between social capital and health. However, the association may reflect confounding by factors, such as personality or early childhood environment, that are unmeasured prior common causes of both social capital and health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of social capital on physical and mental health among adult twins in the U.S. Methods: A cross-sectional national survey of twins within the National Survey of Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS), 1995-1996 was analyzed in 2007. The study population included 944 twin pairs (37.2% monozygotic [MZ] and 62.8% dizygotic [DZ]). Data were obtained on individual-level social capital variables (social trust, sense of belonging, volunteer activity, and community participation); health outcomes (perceived physical and mental health, depressive symptoms and major depression); and individual covariates (age, gender, race, education, working status, and marital status). A fixed-effects model was used to examine health status among twin pairs who were discordant on levels of social capital. Results: In the individual data analysis, social trust, sense of belonging, and community participation were each significantly associated with health outcomes. In the fixed-effects model, physical health remained significantly positively associated with social trust among MZ and DZ twins. However, major depression was not associated with social capital. Conclusions: The present study is the first to find the independent positive effect of social trust on self-rated physical health using fixed-effects models of twin data. The results suggest that the association between social capital and physical health status is not explained by unobserved confounds, such as personality or early childhood environment.
Colonialism and the Racialization of Indigenous Identity
The Oxford Handbook of Indigenous Sociology, 2022
This chapter traces the emergence of “race” as a handmaiden to colonialism and the consequential ... more This chapter traces the emergence of “race” as a handmaiden to colonialism and the consequential racialization of Indigenous Peoples. We argue that colonialism and the ideas that inform colonial structures, such as race, not only serve to hide their existence but also to legitimate the power relations that they establish. As a consequence, the larger context of colonialism created and required “race” to justify the dispossession and displacement of Indigenous Peoples. Here, dispossession and displacement carry a number of meanings, from territorial expropriation to the usurpation and replacement of Indigenous self-identifications. The chapter also calls attention to the process of racialization and the historical legacies of racialized science to make appreciable how colonialism reinscribes both Native nations and their members as racialized subjects.
Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI); Cornell University, Feb 1, 2010
Eugenics as Indian Removal
Routledge eBooks, Mar 8, 2023
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2012
American Indians have one of the lowest colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates for any racial/ e... more American Indians have one of the lowest colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates for any racial/ ethnic group in the U.S., yet reasons for their low screening participation are poorly understood. Limited English language use may create barriers to cancer screening in Hispanic and other ethnic minority immigrant populations; the extent to which this hypothesis is generalizable to American Indians is unknown. We examine whether tribal (indigenous) language use is associated with knowledge and use of CRC screening in a community-based sample of American Indians. Using logistic regression to estimate the association between tribal language use and CRC test knowledge and receipt we found participants speaking primarily English were no more aware of CRC screening tests than those speaking primarily a tribal language (OR=1.16 [0.29, 4.63]). Participants who spoke only a tribal language at home (OR=1.09 [0.30, 4.00]) and those who spoke both a tribal language and English (OR=1.74 [0.62, 4.88]) also showed comparable rates of knowledge and receipt of CRC screening. Study findings failed to support the concept that primary use of a tribal language is a barrier to CRC screening among American Indians.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The lack of literature on Indigenous conceptions of health and the social determinants of health ... more The lack of literature on Indigenous conceptions of health and the social determinants of health (SDH) for US Indigenous communities limits available information for Indigenous nations as they set policy and allocate resources to improve the health of their citizens. In 2015, eight scholars from tribal communities and mainstream educational institutions convened to examine: the limitations of applying the World Health Organization’s (WHO) SDH framework in Indigenous communities; Indigenizing the WHO SDH framework; and Indigenous conceptions of a healthy community. Participants critiqued the assumptions within the WHO SDH framework that did not cohere with Indigenous knowledges and epistemologies and created a schematic for conceptualizing health and categorizing its determinants. As Indigenous nations pursue a policy role in health and seek to improve the health and wellness of their nations’ citizens, definitions of Indigenous health and well-being should be community-driven and In...
Public Opinion on Indian Casinos and Rural Economic Development in NYS
American Indian tribal government gaming (or Indian gaming as it is known in the vernacular of pu... more American Indian tribal government gaming (or Indian gaming as it is known in the vernacular of public discourse) is one of the fastest growing and most profitable industries in much of rural America today (Borden, Harris, and Fletcher 1997). With employment opportunities in manufacturing and agriculture waning, tribal government gaming enterprises have become not only popular venues for rural and suburban leisure, but an important source of employment and revenue in regions that have been plagued for generations with both Indian and nonIndian poverty (Gonzales 2003a). At the same time, few rural development issues have sparked as much public debate and controversy as Indian gaming (Gonzales 2003b). But unlike more conventional economic development strategies such as tourism, gaming often raises moral and social concerns, with many people associating it with drug use, prostitution, and organized crime (Miller and Schwartz, 1998; Roehl, 1999). Because these perceived negative features...
American Indians: Their contemporary reality and future trajectory
Challenges for rural America in the twenty-first …, 2003
American Indians Their Contemporary Reality and Future Trajectory Angela A. Gonzales Historically... more American Indians Their Contemporary Reality and Future Trajectory Angela A. Gonzales Historically, American Indians have been one of ... officials, citizens groups, and business organizations, and opposition to the reacquisition, consolidation, and expansion of tribal trust ...
Ethnicity & disease, 2010
OBJECTIVE Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important ... more OBJECTIVE Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important issue for cancer-prevention research. We investigate associations between perceived cancer risk and selected cancer risk factors in a population-based sample of American Indians. STUDY DESIGN AND POPULATION: Data for this cross-sectional study come from a random sample of 182 American Indian adults, aged > or = 40 years, residing on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. OUTCOME MEASURES Perception of cancer risk was ascertained with the 5-point Likert scale question, "How likely do you think it is that you will develop cancer in the future?" dichotomized into low perceived risk and high perceived risk. RESULTS Participants reporting a family member with cancer were more likely, by greater than five times, to report the perception that they would get cancer (OR = 5.3; 95% CI: 2.3, 12.3). After controlling for age and family history of cancer, knowledge of cancer risk ...
Indigenous Identity, Being, and Belonging
Contexts
While DNA-ancestry test kits are growing in popularity, can they really tell you who you are? Her... more While DNA-ancestry test kits are growing in popularity, can they really tell you who you are? Here, the authors explore why identity and ancestry are not the same.
Human Papillomavirus Prevalence Among American Indian Women of the Great Plains
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Sowing the Seeds of Social Justice through Service-Learning with American Indian Tribal Partners
Practicing Anthropology
Assessing Acceptability of Self-Sampling Kits, Prevalence, and Risk Factors for Human Papillomavirus Infection in American Indian Women
Journal of Community Health, 2016
Perceived cancer risk among American Indians: implications for intervention research
Ethnicity Disease, 2010
Objective: Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important... more Objective: Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important issue for cancer-prevention research. We investigate associations between perceived cancer risk and selected cancer risk factors in a population-based sample of American Indians. STUDY DESIGN AND POPULATION: Data for this cross-sectional study come from a random sample of 182 American Indian adults, aged > or = 40 years, residing on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. Outcome measures: Perception of cancer risk was ascertained with the 5-point Likert scale question, "How likely do you think it is that you will develop cancer in the future?" dichotomized into low perceived risk and high perceived risk. Results: Participants reporting a family member with cancer were more likely, by greater than five times, to report the perception that they would get cancer (OR = 5.3; 95% CI: 2.3, 12.3). After controlling for age and family history of cancer, knowledge of cancer risk factors and attitude about cancer prevention were not significantly associated with risk perception. Conclusions: Perceived cancer risk was significantly associated with self-reported family history of cancer, supporting the importance of personal knowledge of cancer among American Indians. Further research is needed to obtain a more complete picture of the factors associated with perceptions of cancer risk among American Indians in order to develop effective interventions.
We Grow the Ivy": Cornell's Claim to Indigenous Dispossession
Native American and Indigenous Studies, Mar 1, 2021
Sowing the Seeds of Social Justice through Service-Learning with American Indian Tribal Partners
Practicing anthropology, Apr 1, 2017
As a form of community engagement pedagogy, service-learning aims to bridge theory with practice ... more As a form of community engagement pedagogy, service-learning aims to bridge theory with practice by combining learning goals and community service in ways that are mutually beneficial to students and community partners. However, if not done well, service-learning can have the opposite effect of reinforcing stereotypes, perpetuating social inequalities, and placing more of a burden on communities and organizations than providing a service. Based on the author's service-learning experience with community partners on the Hopi Reservation, this article considers some of the challenges and opportunities for developing meaningful and mutually beneficial service-learning projects with American Indian tribal partners.
Journal of Community Health, Sep 23, 2015
We evaluated whether delivering educational presentations on human papillomavirus (HPV) to Americ... more We evaluated whether delivering educational presentations on human papillomavirus (HPV) to American Indian mothers affected HPV vaccination rates in their adolescent daughters. In March-April 2012, we recruited Hopi mothers or female guardians with daughters aged 9-12 years for a cluster-randomized intervention study on the Hopi Reservation. Participants attended motherdaughter dinners featuring educational presentations for mothers on either HPV (intervention) or juvenile diabetes (control) and completed baseline surveys. Eleven months later, we surveyed mothers on their daughters' HPV vaccine uptake. We also reviewed aggregated immunization reports from the Indian Health Service to assess community-level HPV vaccination coverage from 2007-2013. Ninety-seven mother-daughter dyads participated; nine mothers reported that their daughters completed the three-dose HPV vaccination series before recruitment. Among the remaining mothers, 63% completed the follow-up survey. Adjusting for household income, the proportion of daughters completing vaccination within 11 months post-intervention was similar in the intervention and control groups (32% vs. 28%, adjusted RR=1.2,95%CI:0.6-2.3). Among unvaccinated daughters, those whose mothers received HPV education were more likely to initiate vaccination (50% vs. 27%, adjusted RR=2.6,95%CI:1.4-4.9) and complete three doses (adjusted RR=4.0,95%CI:1.2-13.1) than girls whose mothers received diabetes education. Community-level data showed that 80% of girls aged 13-17 years and 20% of girls aged 11-12 completed the vaccination series by 2013. HPV vaccine uptake in Hopi girls aged 13-17 years is significantly higher than the U.S. national average. Brief educational presentations on HPV delivered to American Indian mothers might increase HPV vaccination rates in daughters aged 9-12 years.
Journal of Community Health, Apr 5, 2016
Background CervixCheck, Manitoba's cervical cancer screening program, conducted a pilot study to ... more Background CervixCheck, Manitoba's cervical cancer screening program, conducted a pilot study to assess whether screening participation could be improved in unscreened women by offering a mailed self-sampling kit for human papillomavirus (hpv) testing instead of a Pap test. Methods In a prospective cohort study design, a sample of unscreened women (n = 1052) who had been sent an invitation letter from CervixCheck in the past but who did not respond were randomized to either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group received a mailed hpv self-sampling kit; the control group received no additional communication. Returned hpv self-sampling swabs were analyzed by a provincial laboratory. After 6 months, screening participation in the two study groups was compared using a logistic regression model adjusted for age and area of residence (urban or rural). Secondary outcomes included hpv positivity, specimen inadequacy, compliance with follow-up, and time to colposcopy. Results Screening participation was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (n = 51, 9.6%, vs. n = 13, 2.5%; odds ratio: 4.7; 95% confidence interval: 2.56 to 8.77). Geographic area of residence (urban or rural) and age were not statistically significant. Conclusions The study demonstrated that hpv self-sampling kits can enhance screening participation in unscreened non-responder women in the setting of an organized screening program. Next steps should include additional research to determine the best implementation strategy for hpv self-sampling in Manitoba.
The Federal Acknowledgment Process and the Legal (De)Construction of American Indian Tribal Identity
The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Oct 15, 2018
Background. High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) causes cervical cancer. In the United States, ... more Background. High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) causes cervical cancer. In the United States, approximately 40% of women aged 14-59 years from all racial and ethnic groups are infected with HPV, and prevalence typically declines with age. However, American Indian (AI) women are insufficiently sampled to permit a population-specific estimate of hrHPV prevalence. Methods. Vaginal swabs were self-collected by 698 AI women aged 21-65 years from a tribal community in the Great Plains. We estimated the population prevalence of hrHPV and identified predominant genotypes.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Mar 1, 2009
Background: A growing number of studies have suggested a link between social capital and health. ... more Background: A growing number of studies have suggested a link between social capital and health. However, the association may reflect confounding by factors, such as personality or early childhood environment, that are unmeasured prior common causes of both social capital and health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of social capital on physical and mental health among adult twins in the U.S. Methods: A cross-sectional national survey of twins within the National Survey of Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS), 1995-1996 was analyzed in 2007. The study population included 944 twin pairs (37.2% monozygotic [MZ] and 62.8% dizygotic [DZ]). Data were obtained on individual-level social capital variables (social trust, sense of belonging, volunteer activity, and community participation); health outcomes (perceived physical and mental health, depressive symptoms and major depression); and individual covariates (age, gender, race, education, working status, and marital status). A fixed-effects model was used to examine health status among twin pairs who were discordant on levels of social capital. Results: In the individual data analysis, social trust, sense of belonging, and community participation were each significantly associated with health outcomes. In the fixed-effects model, physical health remained significantly positively associated with social trust among MZ and DZ twins. However, major depression was not associated with social capital. Conclusions: The present study is the first to find the independent positive effect of social trust on self-rated physical health using fixed-effects models of twin data. The results suggest that the association between social capital and physical health status is not explained by unobserved confounds, such as personality or early childhood environment.
Colonialism and the Racialization of Indigenous Identity
The Oxford Handbook of Indigenous Sociology, 2022
This chapter traces the emergence of “race” as a handmaiden to colonialism and the consequential ... more This chapter traces the emergence of “race” as a handmaiden to colonialism and the consequential racialization of Indigenous Peoples. We argue that colonialism and the ideas that inform colonial structures, such as race, not only serve to hide their existence but also to legitimate the power relations that they establish. As a consequence, the larger context of colonialism created and required “race” to justify the dispossession and displacement of Indigenous Peoples. Here, dispossession and displacement carry a number of meanings, from territorial expropriation to the usurpation and replacement of Indigenous self-identifications. The chapter also calls attention to the process of racialization and the historical legacies of racialized science to make appreciable how colonialism reinscribes both Native nations and their members as racialized subjects.
Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI); Cornell University, Feb 1, 2010
Eugenics as Indian Removal
Routledge eBooks, Mar 8, 2023
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 2012
American Indians have one of the lowest colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates for any racial/ e... more American Indians have one of the lowest colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates for any racial/ ethnic group in the U.S., yet reasons for their low screening participation are poorly understood. Limited English language use may create barriers to cancer screening in Hispanic and other ethnic minority immigrant populations; the extent to which this hypothesis is generalizable to American Indians is unknown. We examine whether tribal (indigenous) language use is associated with knowledge and use of CRC screening in a community-based sample of American Indians. Using logistic regression to estimate the association between tribal language use and CRC test knowledge and receipt we found participants speaking primarily English were no more aware of CRC screening tests than those speaking primarily a tribal language (OR=1.16 [0.29, 4.63]). Participants who spoke only a tribal language at home (OR=1.09 [0.30, 4.00]) and those who spoke both a tribal language and English (OR=1.74 [0.62, 4.88]) also showed comparable rates of knowledge and receipt of CRC screening. Study findings failed to support the concept that primary use of a tribal language is a barrier to CRC screening among American Indians.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The lack of literature on Indigenous conceptions of health and the social determinants of health ... more The lack of literature on Indigenous conceptions of health and the social determinants of health (SDH) for US Indigenous communities limits available information for Indigenous nations as they set policy and allocate resources to improve the health of their citizens. In 2015, eight scholars from tribal communities and mainstream educational institutions convened to examine: the limitations of applying the World Health Organization’s (WHO) SDH framework in Indigenous communities; Indigenizing the WHO SDH framework; and Indigenous conceptions of a healthy community. Participants critiqued the assumptions within the WHO SDH framework that did not cohere with Indigenous knowledges and epistemologies and created a schematic for conceptualizing health and categorizing its determinants. As Indigenous nations pursue a policy role in health and seek to improve the health and wellness of their nations’ citizens, definitions of Indigenous health and well-being should be community-driven and In...
Public Opinion on Indian Casinos and Rural Economic Development in NYS
American Indian tribal government gaming (or Indian gaming as it is known in the vernacular of pu... more American Indian tribal government gaming (or Indian gaming as it is known in the vernacular of public discourse) is one of the fastest growing and most profitable industries in much of rural America today (Borden, Harris, and Fletcher 1997). With employment opportunities in manufacturing and agriculture waning, tribal government gaming enterprises have become not only popular venues for rural and suburban leisure, but an important source of employment and revenue in regions that have been plagued for generations with both Indian and nonIndian poverty (Gonzales 2003a). At the same time, few rural development issues have sparked as much public debate and controversy as Indian gaming (Gonzales 2003b). But unlike more conventional economic development strategies such as tourism, gaming often raises moral and social concerns, with many people associating it with drug use, prostitution, and organized crime (Miller and Schwartz, 1998; Roehl, 1999). Because these perceived negative features...
American Indians: Their contemporary reality and future trajectory
Challenges for rural America in the twenty-first …, 2003
American Indians Their Contemporary Reality and Future Trajectory Angela A. Gonzales Historically... more American Indians Their Contemporary Reality and Future Trajectory Angela A. Gonzales Historically, American Indians have been one of ... officials, citizens groups, and business organizations, and opposition to the reacquisition, consolidation, and expansion of tribal trust ...
Ethnicity & disease, 2010
OBJECTIVE Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important ... more OBJECTIVE Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important issue for cancer-prevention research. We investigate associations between perceived cancer risk and selected cancer risk factors in a population-based sample of American Indians. STUDY DESIGN AND POPULATION: Data for this cross-sectional study come from a random sample of 182 American Indian adults, aged > or = 40 years, residing on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. OUTCOME MEASURES Perception of cancer risk was ascertained with the 5-point Likert scale question, "How likely do you think it is that you will develop cancer in the future?" dichotomized into low perceived risk and high perceived risk. RESULTS Participants reporting a family member with cancer were more likely, by greater than five times, to report the perception that they would get cancer (OR = 5.3; 95% CI: 2.3, 12.3). After controlling for age and family history of cancer, knowledge of cancer risk ...
Indigenous Identity, Being, and Belonging
Contexts
While DNA-ancestry test kits are growing in popularity, can they really tell you who you are? Her... more While DNA-ancestry test kits are growing in popularity, can they really tell you who you are? Here, the authors explore why identity and ancestry are not the same.
Human Papillomavirus Prevalence Among American Indian Women of the Great Plains
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Sowing the Seeds of Social Justice through Service-Learning with American Indian Tribal Partners
Practicing Anthropology
Assessing Acceptability of Self-Sampling Kits, Prevalence, and Risk Factors for Human Papillomavirus Infection in American Indian Women
Journal of Community Health, 2016
Perceived cancer risk among American Indians: implications for intervention research
Ethnicity Disease, 2010
Objective: Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important... more Objective: Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important issue for cancer-prevention research. We investigate associations between perceived cancer risk and selected cancer risk factors in a population-based sample of American Indians. STUDY DESIGN AND POPULATION: Data for this cross-sectional study come from a random sample of 182 American Indian adults, aged > or = 40 years, residing on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. Outcome measures: Perception of cancer risk was ascertained with the 5-point Likert scale question, "How likely do you think it is that you will develop cancer in the future?" dichotomized into low perceived risk and high perceived risk. Results: Participants reporting a family member with cancer were more likely, by greater than five times, to report the perception that they would get cancer (OR = 5.3; 95% CI: 2.3, 12.3). After controlling for age and family history of cancer, knowledge of cancer risk factors and attitude about cancer prevention were not significantly associated with risk perception. Conclusions: Perceived cancer risk was significantly associated with self-reported family history of cancer, supporting the importance of personal knowledge of cancer among American Indians. Further research is needed to obtain a more complete picture of the factors associated with perceptions of cancer risk among American Indians in order to develop effective interventions.