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Lung cancer disparities and African‐Americans
Author(s) -
Sin MoKyung
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
public health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1525-1446
pISSN - 0737-1209
DOI - 10.1111/phn.12335
Subject(s) - disadvantaged , lung cancer , lung cancer screening , medicine , public health , african american , health care , incidence (geometry) , cancer , gerontology , family medicine , environmental health , pathology , economic growth , sociology , ethnology , physics , optics , economics
Abstract African‐Americans, as historically disadvantaged minorities, have more advanced stages of cancer when diagnosed, lower survival rates, and lower rates of accessing timely care than do Caucasians. Lung cancer incidence and mortality, in particular, are high among African‐Americans. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently released an evidence‐based lung cancer screening technology called low‐dose computerized tomography. High‐risk African‐Americans might benefit greatly from such screening but not many are aware of this technology. Public health nurses can play a key role in increasing awareness of the technology among African‐American communities and encouraging qualified African‐Americans to obtain screening. This study discusses issues with lung cancer and smoking among African‐Americans, a recently released evidence‐based lung cancer screening technology, and implications for public health nurses to enhance uptake of the new screening technology among high‐risk African‐Americans.