Mammography-Seeking Practices Of Central Illinois Amish Women
Title: Mammography-Seeking Practices Of Central Illinois Amish Women
- Describe characteristics of Amish communities, including religious beliefs, transportation, and diet.
- Report factors that limit access to women's health services for Amish women, including those discovered in the study at hand.
- Design an educational intervention tailored to a group Amish community members or an individual Amish woman, concerning the value of seeking mammography.
Design: In this cross-sectional study, primary data were collected through a mail questionnaire focusing on breast cancer history, mammography-seeking practices, and beliefs surrounding breast health.
Setting: Arthur, Illinois is a small, rural community in central Illinois. Though most residents are Amish, the “Arthur Amish” community expands beyond the Arthur city limits into several other small, neighboring towns, including Arcola, Atwood, Humboldt, Lovington, Sullivan, and Tuscola, Illinois.
Sample: 143 female members of the Arthur, Illinois Amish community, aged 40 to 70 years old.
Methods: Data were collected from this unique, socially isolated group through a mail questionnaire focusing on breast cancer history, mammography practices, and beliefs surrounding breast health. Sample mammography adherence and ever mammogram rates were compared with both the general population and other United States (US) Amish communities.
Results: Logistic regression on the “ever mammogram” variable showed that compared to those who did not have knowledge of screening guidelines, Amish women with knowledge of screening guidelines experienced an odds ratio (OR) of 5.26 (confidence interval [CI] 1.79, 15.45) for mammography screening compared to those without that knowledge. Participants who believed nutrition/diet causes breast cancer experienced an OR of 4.27 (CI 1.39,13.11) for mammography and those who believed physical injury causes breast cancer had an OR of 3.86 (CI 1.24, 12.04) compared to women who do not hold these beliefs.
Conclusion/Implications for nursing practice: Preexisting research and data from this study agree that Amish rates of mammography, as well as ideas about mammography, lag far behind the rest of the U.S. population. Future research is needed to confirm these results and further explore the role of nurses in providing outreach and education to Amish women around the benefits of mammography as well as breast cancer risk.
Keywords: breast cancer, mammography, Amish, disparities