Abstract D026: Correlates of lifestyle behaviors to prevent colorectal cancer among low-income Vietnamese Americans

Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third highest cause of mortality in Vietnamese Americans. Lifestyle behaviors including diet, physical activity, smoking, and drinking have been associated with the incidence of CRC. Despite the association between health behaviors and CRC, as well as documented non-optimal engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors among this group, little research has been done to address health behaviors in Vietnamese Americans. Methodology We recruited 804 Vietnamese Americans aged 50 or order from 20 community-based organizations (CBOs) in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. As a dependent variable, lifestyle behaviors were measured as a composite score of smoking, drinking, diet, and physical activity. Measures for independent variables included knowledge on CRC risks and screening, cancer related health beliefs, CRC screening self-efficacy, and CRC related social norm. Descriptive analysis, t-test (for categorical IVs) and correlation analysis (for continuous IVs) were first conducted to select the variables to be included in the multiple regression analysis. Results Among 804 participants, 41% were men, 60% were women, and about 22% were older than 75. Approximately 62% had an annual household income below $20,000, and only 18% had a college degree or higher. We conducted a bivariate (t-test and correlation) analysis. The results showed that gender, income, knowledge on CRC risk factors, beliefs that getting cancer is determined by the fate, and two CRC-related social norms were associated with composite score of lifestyle behaviors. Multiple regression analysis showed that being female (log odds = 2.02, 95% CI 1.53–2.51) and having greater knowledge (log odds = .61, 95% CI .002–.21) on CRC risk factors are significant predictors of healthy lifestyle behaviors controlling for other variables. Conclusion Findings revealed sub-optimal levels of healthy lifestyle behaviors and knowledge of CRC risk factors among Vietnamese Americans. The study highlights the importance of educating knowledge about the risk factors of CRC to improve lifestyle behaviors, which may eventually contribute to preventing CRC in this population. Acknowledgement: This research project was supported by grant U01MD010627 (PI: Grace X. Ma, PhD) funded by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) of National Institute of Health (NIH), and partially supported by the grant of U54