Culturally adapted informational video may improve breast cancer knowledge among patients, suggest findings published March 13 in PEC Innovation.
A 12-minute video intervention led to increased self-efficacy and mammography screening intention for a mostly Hispanic study population, wrote a team of researchers led by Priyanka Dadha, PhD, from Texas Tech University in El Paso.
“The culturally tailored digital format supports scalability and accessibility in underserved communities,” Dadha and fellow researchers noted.
While progress has been made in breast cancer awareness and care, disparities remain for disease outcomes. For example, Hispanic women have a 30% lower reported incidence but a reduced decline in breast cancer mortality compared with non-Hispanic white women.
Prior research suggests that socioeconomic barriers in communication and access, as well as incomplete family medical histories, may be worsening these trends.
Dadha and colleagues studied the effectiveness of an online, culturally tailored educational video in improving breast cancer knowledge, psychosocial constructs, and screening intentions. Their focus was on a predominantly Hispanic population.
The team invited 200 patients whose ages ranged from 21 to 78. The patients were recruited through community health workers, social media, and partner organizations. The 12-minute bilingual video, guided by the Health Belief Model and Social Cognitive Theory, addressed breast cancer epidemiology, screening guidelines, and cultural misconceptions. The women filled out surveys before and after watching the video.
Of the total participants, 167 completed both surveys, with about 70% identifying as Hispanic/Latinx.
The video intervention led to significant increases in participants’ knowledge, perceived benefits, self-efficacy, and intent to undergo screening. However, it did not affect perceived barriers or perceived susceptibility to breast cancer.
Comparison in survey scores before, after viewing informational video | ||||
Measure | Before viewing | After viewing | Percent change | p-value |
Knowledge | 8.6 | 9.2 | 7% | < 0.002 |
Perceived benefits | 22.8 | 23.7 | 4% | < 0.02 |
Self-efficacy | 39.7 | 41.5 | 4.5% | < 0.0004 |
Intent to undergo screening | 3.7 | 4 | 8.1% | < 0.01 |
Perceived barriers | 33.6 | 32.9 | -2.1% | < 0.3 |
Perceived susceptibility | 7.7 | 7.9 | 2.6% | < 0.2 |
“These findings underscore the potential of culturally responsive and accessible educational tools to positively influence health behaviors, particularly in underserved communities facing structural and economic barriers,” the study authors explained.
They also urged continued investment in health literacy initiatives that promote preventive screening to reduce disparities, calling their results "promising and supportive" for using culturally tailored videos to improve screening intentions.
“Future research should incorporate strategies to address persistent perceived barriers and risk perceptions, include long-term follow-up to evaluate actual screening behavior, and expand outreach efforts to non-English speaking and lower-income populations to maximize public health impact,” the team concluded.
Read the full study here.
