Abstract B058: Cervical cancer prevention hesitancy comparison between Muslim and Non-Muslim American women: Qualitative study

Introduction HPV vaccination and regular cervical cancer screening are crucial in reducing cervical cancer morbidity and mortality. The Muslim population is a growing and understudied minority group in the US presenting with higher rates of a late-stage cervical cancer diagnosis than non-Muslims. Studies showed specific factors impacting Muslim women's beliefs and practices related to cervical cancer prevention. This study explored multi-contextual factors, including religious, behavioral, and sociocultural elements that may influence Muslim women's decisions regarding cervical cancer prevention in Virginia, USA compared to in Egypt. Methods The project recruited 20 American women (Muslim and non-Muslim) for in-depth interviews. The interviews followed a detailed guideline, asking questions about knowledge, attitude, and behavior related to HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening. The qualitative data were analyzed using the Strauss and Corbin variation of the Grounded Theory using an iterative coding process to extract concepts and causal relations between them in the interviews. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Boards of Virginia Commonwealth University. Results The Muslim and non-Muslim cohorts showed different results. Most participants (Muslim and non-Muslim) had information about cervical cancer but not prevention methods such as the HPV vaccine. None of the single Muslim women visited a gynecologist due to modesty (Virginity), while all married women had at least one gynecologist visit. Most non-Muslim single cohorts are visiting the Primary Care Physicians regularly but not gynecologists. Female physicians were a preference for all women, the non-Muslim women were more open to male providers if there are no other options. Religious misconceptions about the risk factors of cervical cancers were common in the Muslim women cohort (e.g., cancer is a punishment from God). All participants in both cohorts agreed that vaccination generally was useful and effective, but they did not know about the HPV vaccine. None of the participants (Muslim and non-Muslim) were vaccinated against HPV. A language barrier was observed among Muslim women’s experiences in the US, even though all participants spoke English fluently. Discussion Both populations need education related to HPV prevention even those who graduated from American high school. Muslim women interfacing the health system complexity every day while they are visiting any clinic, th