Health status among black African-born women in Kansas City: a preliminary assessment.

BACKGROUND: Health information and statistics for Black foreign-born women in the United States are under-reported or not available. Black foreign-born women typically are classified under the general category of African American, ignoring the heterogeneity that exists in the United States Black population. It is important to identify health issues and behaviors of African-born women to effectively address health disparities. METHODS: Black African-born women (N = 29), 20 years or older completed a survey about general and women's health, health history, acculturation, lifestyle, social and health challenges, beliefs about breast cancer. Data were analyzed using SPSS 14.0 software. Categorical variables were summarized with frequencies and percentages and continuous variables were summarized with means and standard variation. A Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree) was used to assess beliefs about breast cancer. RESULTS: Most (71.4%) participants had a high school education or more, 70% were employed, and 50% had health insurance. Two-thirds received health care from primary care doctors, 20.7% from health departments, and 39.3% got annual checkups. Lack of jobs, healthcare cost, language barrier, discrimination, and child care were the top social issues faced by participants. High blood pressure, obesity, oral health, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes were indicated as the most common health problems. The percent of participants (60%) that had not had a mammogram within the previous 2 years was more than the state average (24%) for women 40 years and older reported by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The percent of participants (40%) that had a mammogram within the previous 2 years was lower than the national average (73.2%) for African American women. CONCLUSIONS: Study provides a snapshot of social concerns and health issues in an African population residing in Midwestern United States. Understanding the socio-cultural characteristics of this population is necessary to address health disparities.

Assessment of mammography experiences and satisfaction among American Indian/Alaska Native women.

BACKGROUND: American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women have lower breast cancer (BCA) screening and 5-year survival rates than non-Hispanic Whites. Understanding reasons for low screening rates is important to combatting later stage diagnoses. The purpose of this study was to assess mammography experiences and satisfaction among AI/AN women. METHODS: Nine focus groups were held with rural (N = 15) and urban (N = 38) AI/AN women 40 years and older in Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, living both near and far from Indian Health Service (IHS) and tribal facilities, to examine experiences and satisfaction with mammography. Transcripts were coded and themes identified using a community-based participatory research approach. FINDINGS: Themes were classified under knowledge, communication, and awareness of BCA; barriers to mammography; mammogram facility size; impressions of mammogram technologist; motivations for getting a mammogram; and how to improve the mammogram experience. Participants had knowledge of prevention, but described cultural reasons for not discussing it and described better experiences in smaller facilities. Participants indicated having a mammogram technologist who was friendly, knowledgeable, respectful, competent, and explained the test was a determining factor in satisfaction. Other factors included family history, physician recommendation, and financial incentives. Barriers included transportation, cost, perceptions of prejudice, and time constraints. Participants on reservations or near IHS facilities preferred IHS over mainstream providers. Suggestions for improvement included caring technologists, better machines with less discomfort, and education. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to enhance the professionalism, empathy, and cultural awareness of mammogram technologists; reduce barriers; and provide positive expectations and incentives could improve satisfaction and compliance with screening mammography.

Cocaine-protein targets in mouse liver.

Cocaine has been shown to be hepatotoxic in mice, rats and humans. N-Oxidative metabolism of cocaine is required for this effect, and it has been proposed that binding of cocaine reactive metabolites formed via this pathway might be responsible for cytotoxicity. To explore this hypothesis, cocaine-protein adducts in liver following cocaine treatment in naive ICR mice were examined by Western blot analysis and compared with those formed in mice pretreated with phenobarbital or beta-naphthoflavone. Phenobarbital and beta-naphthoflavone pretreatments have been shown previously to shift the hepatic necrosis in ICR mice from the midzonal region to periportal and perivenular regions, respectively. Similar patterns of cocaine-protein adduction were detected in naive, phenobarbital-pretreated and beta-naphthoflavone-pretreated mice, however, suggesting a consistent set of target proteins regardless where within the lobule toxicity occurs. To confirm that Western blot analysis using anti-cocaine antibody was capable of detecting all of the major cocaine-protein adducts, a separate experiment was conducted in which mice were treated with 14C-labeled cocaine and cocaine-protein adducts were detected fluorographically. This technique detected essentially the same protein adducts as the Western blots. Two of the protein adducts were isolated, subjected to N-terminal sequence analysis, and found to have homology with hsp 60 and transferrin. Western blot analysis using anti-hsp 60 and anti-transferrin antibodies following two-dimension PAGE separation was used to confirm the identity of these protein targets. Impairment of function of either protein could plausibly contribute to cocaine hepatotoxicity, although this remains to be demonstrated.