Are there any cultural barriers that might prevent Hispanic/Latino women from getting screened?
Some Hispanic women have been brought up in a culture that frowns on women touching themselves, so many of these women are less likely to do the breast self-exam. Also, if a Hispanic woman has a male physician, often she is reluctant to let him do a breast exam. Or her husband is reluctant. Additionally, Hispanic women often just don’t talk about breast cancer, and they feel that if something irregular is found in a screening, that it is always cancer, which is not true. Hispanic women also tend to put themselves last in the family for care. If there are few resources left after the whole family is taken care of, then perhaps she’ll go in for screening. But her preventative care comes last. Do Hispanic/Latino women get regular mammograms? Only about 40% of Hispanic women are utilizing mammography, and we don’t understand all the reasons. There are some misconceptions out there that it hurts. Some women have said it’s like a tortilla press. So there is a real lack of education about the
