Abstract B011: Empowering Latinas to obtain breast cancer screenings: Comparing interventions’ behavioral and network effects

Abstract Purpose: Multiple approaches have been used to address Latinas’ disproportionate breast cancer burden, including educational interventions and empowerment related interventions, wherein a subset of the population is trained to share information with other members of the priority population. However, little work has compared their effects. Objective: To analyze data regarding the effectiveness of education and empowerment approaches on participant behaviors and network dissemination. Methods: This quasi-experimental trial was conducted in two lower-income Latino communities in Chicago between 2017-2019. Eligibility criteria include: 1) age of 52-74; 2) no mammography use within past 2 years; 3) no previous breast cancer diagnosis; and, 4) no prior health volunteerism experience. Women were assigned to a cohort and participate in a three-week intervention (education: breast cancer, diet, physical activity; empowerment: breast cancer, sharing information with networks, health volunteerism). For women who wished to obtain mammography (from either arm), the study team provided navigation to free/low-cost services. Data were collected at baseline, post-intervention, and six-month follow-up included standard demographics; self-reported mammography use, which were verified by study navigation records; and a modified version of Burt’s General Social Survey tool for egocentric data collection. All analyses accounted for cohort clustering and adjusted for relevant covariates (age, education, income, insurance status, baseline mammography intention, social network size, baseline proportion of network engaged about breast cancer). Results: There was a total of 145 women who enrolled in the study, of which 126 completed the intervention (64 empowerment, 62 education). Approximately 70% of participants were 52-64 years old, 57% were insured, 58% had less than a 9th grade education, had an annual household income of <$15,000 (44%), and 83% were born in Mexico. More empowerment participants had greater odds of obtaining a mammogram relative to education participants, 47% vs 84%; OR = 6.1, 95%CI [2.3, 15.5], p<.0001. Simultaneously, relative to education participants, empowerment participants talked to more women about breast cancer (M = 5.4 SD = 4.7 vs M= 2.6, SD = 2.6; Std B = 2.7, 95%CI [1.3, 4.0], p<.0001) as well as had greater odds of endorsing a specific type of breast cancer screening (69% vs 39%, OR = 3.6, 95%CI[1.7, 7.4], p =.001) and disseminating breast cancer information in public locations (48% vs 23%, OR = 3.2, 95%CI [1.6, 6.7], p = .002). Discussion: Empowerment approaches appear to be more effective at promoting mammography among non-adherent Latinas and enabling community-wide dissemination of evidence-based breast health information, when compared to education approaches. Limitations concern generalizability due a non-probability based sample, and limited ability for causal inferences due to a lack of randomization. Citation Format: Yamilé Molina, Liliana G. San Miguel, Catherine Pichardo, Genesis Rios, Juanita Arroyo, Maria Medina, Nora Coronado, Araceli Lucio, Olivia Hernandez. Empowering Latinas to obtain breast cancer screenings: Comparing interventions’ behavioral and network effects [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr B011.